Sad Breakfast Club
by WriteEditLife
Summary: A Breakfast Club AU where Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica and Kevin aren't friends, but end up spending a whole Saturday together at school.
1. The Opening Scene

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." - John Hughes

Saturday, Jan. 8. Riverdale High School. Riverdale, New York. 12919.

Jughead Jones was not a morning person. Being at school at 7 a.m. five days a week was enough of a jail sentence, but a Saturday? That's just criminal. Jughead rose slowly from the old couch and adjusted his beloved beanie, before he grabbed his Serpent jacket and some gloves and left the trailer quickly. There were no other signs of life in Sunnyside trailer park this early and Jughead as grateful for that as she walked to his motorcycle. Even with the snow, the drive to Pop's was short, despite being on the other side of town. Jug walked quickly inside and quietly placed his helmet on the familiar counter, as he was greeted with a warm "Morning, Jug!" by Pop Tate.

The cheerful owner almost instantly placed a delicious cheeseburger and fries in front of him, along with a piping hot cup of straight black coffee. Jughead practically scarfed down the meal and all but inhaled the coffee, knowing he probably wouldn't be eating again until dinner time, thanks to detention. The broody teenager wanted nothing more in that moment than to stay on that red vinyl stool forever, with an endless supply of mouth-watering food, but the impossible to miss clock on the wall told him he had ten minutes to get to school. With a grunt, Jughead rose from the stool and sauntered out of the diner to his waiting bike, still the only vehicle in the parking lot. Revving the engine, Jughead peeled out of the parking lot towards the Northside, his motorcycle jacket and gloves keeping him warm from the frigid temperatures.

Jughead got off his bike, removed his helmet and stood up, looking towards the Riverdale High School doors as he adjusted his beanie with a sigh. _This is going to suck_ , he thought. Maybe he'd get lucky and he'd be the only student, so he could just sleep through it. He knew he needed if after the late night he had working for the club. With a long sigh, paired with a frustrated huff, Jughead began to meander his way across the empty parking lot towards the front double doors.

Betty Cooper couldn't believe it. She had detention. On a Saturday. She was the perfect girl next door. The youngest daughter of the wholesome Cooper family and the sweetheart of Riverdale. She didn't get detention. _What would people think?_

"I can't believe I have to be here on a Saturday," Betty exclaimed, disgust evident in her usually soft voice as she bit her lip. The fingers on her right hand absentmindedly grabbed the end of her iconic ponytail, pulling it over her shoulder and tugging on the strands tightly.

"Sweetie, it will be okay. But skipping class to buy a dress for Spring Formal is not an excuse," said Hal Cooper, as he sat beside her in the custom Impala they had restored together the previous summer, using his stern but lightly sarcastic tone.

Her mother, Alice Cooper, had been far too disappointed to drop off Betty herself, even working overtime with friends and neighbors to attempt to quell the scandal of Betty's punishment throughout the small town. It was Alice who had convinced (and basically put the fear of God into) Principal Weatherbee to reduced Betty's punishment from a week of afterschool detention to a Saturday, so her extracurricular activities wouldn't suffer and affect her future.

"Just think of all the planning you can get done without all the distractions at home and during school hours," Hal added, with a sympathetic yet hopeful look in his eyes as he witnessed Betty's inner turmoil. Betty sighed dramatically and released her hair after one final and sharp tug, re-adjusted her high ponytail to fit her standards, straightened her high collar and exited the car in a compliant fashion. She stomped up the stairs to the school, willing a positive attitude to wash over her as she navigated through the halls to the library.

Kevin Keller couldn't believe it had come to this. He could feel the disappointment of his father radiating off of him as the pair sat in silent in the truck. As the son of the sheriff, there was a certain (and rather unreasonable) assumption that he was someone that wouldn't get in trouble. It's also the reason he didn't exactly have friends. _Go figure._

Getting sentenced to a Saturday detention seemed almost like an outdated form of torture, and sitting in this truck with his father wasn't exactly helping his outlook on his day. Sometimes Kevin wished he was just a regular high school kid, but no, he was the son of the sheriff and that made his life incredibly difficult and frustrating. And a target. _Can't forget that lovely stereotype_ , he thought to himself, before being broken from his train of thought by his father's authoritative voice.

"I want you to go in there and think about what you did." Sheriff Keller stated, anger seeping through his voice as he glanced over at his only son, a sad attempt at keeping his true feelings on Kevin's punishment at bay.

"Got it, Dad," Kevin replied curtly, staring at the floor of the truck.

With a heavy sigh and a shake of his head, Sherriff Keller continued, "Maybe if you made some friends and didn't spend so much time playing with toys- "

"Dungeons and Dragons isn't a toy, Dad" Kevin interrupted, a burst of confidence he wore like putting on armor before a battle in his tone and demeanor. "I need to go."

Kevin slid out of the truck, lightly slamming the door without so much as a glance back towards his father. He immediately pulled his tan jacket closer to his chest with a huff of frustration. He gripped the strap of his backpack tighter as he made his way swiftly up the steps of the school entrance. _This was going to be a long day._

Veronica Lodge sat in the back of the sleek, black town car lost in deep thought. She slowly smoothed her raven colored hair with her freshly manicured nails, and fingered her pearl necklace in an attempt to calm her anxiety. Her black Gucci dress was a personal favorite and paired with her best stockings and knee-high Chanel leather boots, she felt gave a small sense of comfort in this moment of need. Veronica swallowed thickly, trying to dislodge the unfamiliar lump in her throat. She picked a speck of lint from her custom black cape, and exited the car as Andre held the door and wished her a good day.

Veronica stared up at the school, her new and completely unexpected social playground, that looked right out of the 1950s instead of a small New England town. She had found a small comfort in this small-town atmosphere while her father was in prison, and now that he was out, she preferred school to being home. She was not a nervous or anxious person by nature, but this was the first time in her life she was truly out of her element and she was struggling to deal with all the changes and altered expectations.

Pushing her worries to the back of her mind to focus on the moment at hand (she _was_ a Lodge after all), Veronica confidently walked towards the doors of the main entrance, a practiced activity despite not having an army of student eyes judging her every move. This particular Saturday certainly felt different than others, and not just because of her father's early release.

She paused on her way up the stair and turned to look back towards the blue sky behind her. She could almost sense something in the air, a kind of foreboding change or a hope of better options for the future, like she could reach out and grab it if it materializing in front of her. _Just another Saturday in Riverdale_ , she mused. With a small shoulder shrug, she turned her brown eyes back to the school and continued towards the front door, her cape swishing behind her.

Archie Andrews kept his eyes trained on the floor of his father's truck as it came to a halt in front of Riverdale High. He was a good kid. He had good friends he could count on, he was the captain of the football team, he made good grades and he always tried to be nice and help people with their problems. _So, why do I feel so out of control?_

He really thought he had a handle on himself. His life really was great. Except for his parents splitting up, and his mom moving to Chicago, but his parents were friendly and there was no bad blood or arguments. And he was constantly targeted for his role as football captain, but that position came with a lot of responsibility. But this week proved that all his anger and resentment he thought just lived in the back of his head came bursting out and now he was paying the price.

"I'm not upset, Arch. I want you to talk to me. To tell me whatever this is, so we can work through it." Fred Andrews said, pleading with his son to break the silence that had consumed him since he was sentenced to Saturday detention in Principal Weatherbee's office.

"It's fine, Dad. It's really not a big deal," Archie answered with guilt lacing his voice, grabbing his lunch and backpack before reaching for the door. He suddenly felt his dad's hand on his arm and turned back to look at him.

"I'm just worried about you, Archie. I mean, your future is a stake here. I know how much you love football but this goes on your permanent record son," Fred continued, before backing down at the defeated look on his son's face. "I just, hope you have a good day."

"Thanks. I'll see you at 4." Archie provided, before hopping out of the truck and running up the stairs of the school. He took a deep breath to calm himself in the hallway, before walking into the library and sending up a prayer that this day would be over quickly.


	2. The Meeting Scene

_…_ _and these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They're quite aware of what they're going through…" – David Bowie_

Betty walked inside the library doors and was not at all surprised to see that she was the first one there. _If you're on time, then you're ten minutes late_ , she thought, and this detention incident was not going to mess up her reputation for promptness. Nobody beats Betty Cooper.

She chose a seat at one end of the long table in the front row, so she would have plenty of room to work and she had a great view of the library entrance, with minimal distractions if people sat in the rows behind her. Betty smoothed her yellow miniskirt and made sure pink cardigan was wrinkle free.

She gently placed her backpack on the seat to her left, hoping no one sat there, knowing that none of her friends had gotten caught cutting class. But that sale was just too good to pass up, she didn't have a ton of free time to begin with due to all of her extracurricular activities for her college applications, and she would have been in the clear if her mother hadn't gotten back from her spa retreat three hours early.

Now, all she had to do was get through the next eight hours. _There are twenty-four usable hours in every day_ , Betty thought, remembering the words of her mother, the always overbearing Alice Cooper. Since Principal Weatherbee made it clear that detention was a punishment, she would just have to get creative with her productivity. Between the River Vixens new routines, all the planning and decorating for the dance, the new edition of the Blue and Gold, her homework and everything else, that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Kevin entered the library at a leisurely pace, his gaze trained on the aging carpet in front of time, his brain almost on autopilot as he plopped down in a seat at a small table near the center of the room. With a short glance around, he noted that he was only the second to arrive, after the goody two shoes and energizer bunny Betty Cooper, who looked lost in thought and didn't even bat an eyelash as he entered. Kevin was used to that though, being invisible at school. _So why should a Saturday be any different?_ he thought.

He and Betty had been going to school together their entire lives, but since she was queen bee of the school and he was the shy son of the local sheriff, their paths rarely crossed. She always remembered his name and flashed him a smile when he encountered her, but she wasn't someone he could talk to, she was far too busy for that. And time was something that Kevin had quite a lot of. He found himself hoping for some other company, but just watching Betty Cooper work was practically an Olympic sport, so he certainly wouldn't be bored.

With a glance up at the clock, Kevin realized that in his haste to get away from his dad he actually arrived five minutes early for detention. Now he had eight hours and five minutes to think about his recent decisions. _Maybe I do need some friends_ , he surmised.

Archie blew through the library doors with a surge of anger, the door smacking against the wall loudly and startling the other two occupants. He glanced up in time to see Betty Cooper's incredulous stare at his presence, her pouty, pink lips dropped open slightly. Suddenly feeling like a deer caught in headlights, Archie stopped short and quickly glanced over towards the other occupant, realizing it was the sheriff's kid, before glancing back to Betty. He saw her furtively glance towards the seats next to her and he followed her gaze before moving forward quickly and claiming the seat on the other end, leaving a seat between them.

He put his backpack under the table and felt her watching him, so he hesitantly looked her way again. She looked a bit surprised at catching his gaze before giving him a soft smile and looking away, a hint of disappointment in her features. Archie hadn't expected to know anyone in Saturday detention and Betty's presence was all the more baffling, but he really wasn't in the mood for conversation.

Archie leaned forward in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest and gripping the edges of his prized letterman jacket, his favorite possession and the mark of his success as a member of the Bulldog varsity football team. He fixed his glaze on the floor in front of him, content to let is stay there until his release from punishment.

Jughead sauntered into the library, letting his fingerless glove covered hands graze the papers and objects on the shelves he passed, leaving a small trail of destruction and noise in his wake. He tilted his head down a bit, taking in the three other students in front of him who had all glanced his way upon his entrance. He saw the jock, Archie Andrews, his childhood friend because their dads were close, and forced a slight head nod his way.

He spotted Kevin, the sheriff's kid off to the side in his peripheral vision. He gave a small grunt and suppressed an eye roll that even in school on a weekend, he couldn't escape the watchful eye of the law. But it was the third student that caused him to nearly stop in his motorcycle boot tracks.

Betty Cooper. _The perfect girl next door._ What was _she_ doing here? Of all the places for her to be.

Jughead narrowed his gaze at the Northsider princess, his eyes raking over her pristine sweater, high collared shirt, miniskirt and even her sensible, clean, white Keds. A small smirk appeared at the edge of his lips as a look of shock and confusion appeared on her face at the attention, before he swaggered closer to the table where she sat, her green eyes never leaving his.

With one more step before they were face to face, Jughead quickly sidestepped and turned to walk around the table, breaking the eye contact. He briskly walked behind her, grabbed a chair at the next table and pulled it roughly out before depositing himself in it. Jughead propped his boots up on the table and stretched his arms out behind his head, noticing to his surprise that the princess was watching him again, with those big eyes of hers. Of course, Archie and Kevin were also turned to look at him, but they weren't nearly as pleasing to look at. Jughead wasn't blind. Betty Cooper was the epitome of the friendly neighborhood Hitchcock blonde, who loved pastel colors and clothes that weren't in style in the 1950s, but she was still very easy on the eyes.

What was shaping up to be a Saturday from hell was suddenly looking up. His reverie of Betty was brokenly only moments later, when she turned back towards the library doors as they opened again.

Veronica Lodge was used to making an entrance wherever she went. And it appeared that Saturday detention at Riverdale High was no different. Walking briskly forward with his head up, her heels clicking on the tile floor before being muffled by the faded blue carpet, her black cape flowing lightly behind her and her black dress barely moving out of place, she took in the stares of the other students with little interest.

 _She was already treated like a modern-day Wednesday Adams during regular school hours, so why would Saturday be any different?_ she thought. Ignoring the open stares of the red-headed football jock, the geeky looking kid off to the side, the gang banger who looked as bored as she felt, and the girl who looked straight out of that atrocious Pleasantville movie, she took a seat at the very last table.

Veronica sat sideways in the chair, facing away from the stares that were still on the back of her head, while she opened her Chanel bag carefully on the table in front of her. She touched her black hair to ensure it was still in place, using a small compact engraved with her name. Satisfied with her appearance, Veronica placed the mirror back in her bag and closed it with a small snap.

She slowly turned to glare at the other students, and when she made eye contact with the jock, he just looked unsure of her and turned his gaze forward instead. The geek and the princess both looked away quickly, clearly not wanting to be caught like they had. The gang banger lingered his stare a bit, but she could tell it was more about sizing her up than with real interest. _Of course, gang members are territorial about school in a town like this_ , she thought with an eye roll.

She knew their names of course, she always did her research, but even with eight hours to spare she couldn't bring herself to care, not when any of them showed a lack of interest in her show stopping ways. She focused her gaze on a shelf across the room and willed the day to move quickly.


	3. The Rules Scene

Kevin couldn't sit still. Ever since Jughead Jones, the Southside Serpent prince and Veronica Lodge, the daughter of the criminal Hiram Lodge had walking into the library and sat somewhat behind him he felt nothing by anxiety. He tapped his fingers on the table, he looked around at every inch of the library he could see, he drummed his feet on the floor. _Yeah, this is going to be a long day._

Thankfully, he was saved moments later when Principal Weatherbee entered the library. The imposing man with his self-important tweed brown suit came to stand in front of the table where Betty and Archie sat, and fixed everyone individually with a rather withering stare. Betty and Kevin looked up at him expectantly, all alert and ready for instructions. Archie seemed annoyed, Veronica was examining her manicure and Jughead yawned.

"Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Saturday detention. You all know why you are here," Weatherbee glanced around at the group with a pointed gaze to each of them, the judgement clear. "I expected more from the varsity football captain, head cheerleader and the son of the sheriff, he huffed, giving them each a pointed gaze they actively avoided. He looked back at the clock and continued, "It is 7:02 a.m. and you will remain sitting in these seats in this room until 4 p.m. on the dot. You are not to do any type of work, play games, or sleep because this is a punishment. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Weatherbee." Betty answered immediately, clearly eager to please as if it would make up for her being in detention. She glancing quickly to Archie, with an almost urgent look as he stayed silent.

"Yeah" Archie grumbled more to himself than anyone else, his eyes locked on the carpeted floor near Weatherbee's feet.

A quiet "Yes sir" came from Kevin, complete with an unsarcastic but brief head nod.

"Well, looks like we have a bit of a competition for teacher's pet today..." drawled Jughead loudly, with a small laugh. His stormy blue eyes darting between Betty, Archie and Kevin, as Weatherbee turned towards him and placed his hands on his hips, leaning forward a bit in a small show of intimidation towards Jughead.

"That's enough, Mr. Jones. There will be no talking. This is a punishment," he finished, a heavy tone of finality clear in his tone of voice.

Veronica couldn't stifle the short snort that bubbled out of her mouth, once again commanding everyone's attention, although Weatherbee seemed the most surprised. He stared at her hard for a few seconds, not that she noticed with her face buried in her phone. Weatherbee seemed to make up his mind about something, as he looked between Veronica and Jughead shortly before walking closer to where they sat.

"Alright, I think we will try something different today, just to make sure _all_ of you follow the rules. Hand over your cell phones." Weatherbee stated.

Betty gasped loudly and fully turned in her chair to look at Weatherbee, while Archie simply let his head fall down towards his chest in a defeated gesture. Kevin looked a bit baffled, like he was trying to decide if Weatherbee was being serious. Meanwhile, Jughead scoffed, moving his arms to cross against his chest, as he brought his motorcycle boots up on the table to rest with a thump. Veronica heaved a deep sigh and cracked her neck, acting as though she hadn't even heard the request.

Weatherbee looked around at all of them again, his anger growing at their lack of compliance and said, "Let's go! Hand them over."

"Um, excuse me, sir. But you don't have the authority to take our cell phones from us. We have rights," Kevin interjected, an air of dominance in his voice that in any other situation would have been accused of swallowing a rule book.

"When you're under my supervision and being subject to punishment you will follow my rules, Mr. Keller. Or you would rather hear that order from your father?" Weatherbee responded with a harsh glare, and Kevin crumpled a bit at that and stared at the table in front of him. "Let's go! It's not the end of the world," he added in a tone of mock fury.

Betty looked upset but was the first to reach into her purse and pullout a brand new looking iPhone, complete with a pink floral case, and handed it to Weatherbee. With a deep sigh, Archie pulled a more worn looking black iPhone out of his pocket and gave it over as well.

Kevin fumbled with this green jacket a bit before producing another new looking iPhone, with some sort of fantasy creature painted on the back of it. After collecting those three phones, Weatherbee rounded once again on Veronica and Jughead. Veronica made a small show of slowly reaching for and opening her designer bag, attempting to search for her phone, and then producing the black, sleek looking iPhone between two perfectly manicured fingers. She held it out to Weatherbee almost like a servant, a look on her face almost daring him to take it from her, which he did with only a moment's hesitation.

The principal threw a glare at Jughead. "You're welcome to take it from me," Jughead offered with a small wink, the smirk of triumph already gracing his lips. Weatherbee narrowed his eyes as Jughead leaned back in his chair. Suddenly, Weatherbee leaned forward and smacked Jughead's feet off the table and he nearly lost his balance and fell backward, before throwing his body forward with a small gasp at the last second.

His Serpent jacket flared up, his phone thumping loudly against his body when Jughead managed to right himself and sit in the chair straight again. Weatherbee leaned in closer to Jughead and said," Hand it over, now. Or you're welcome to give it to the arresting officer when I have you booked for wearing gang paraphernalia on school grounds."

Jughead leveled a scowl towards Weatherbee that would have broken most criminals. The fire behind his blue eyes was evident, his raven hair erupting from under his disheveled beanie, his posture suddenly alert and poised like he was ready to attack. Betty, Archie, Kevin and even Veronica were enthralled with the standoff. After what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few minutes according to the clock, Jughead snaked a hand into his jacket pocket and produced a beaten-up flip phone that looked held together with duct tape.

With a menacing growl at Weatherbee, Jughead all but threw the phone down on the table next to him and leaned back in his chair again with his hands white knuckling his own knees, his boots planted firmly on the floor.

Weatherbee grabbed the phone swiftly, a forced polite smile on his face as he turned to walk away. "I will be just across the hall. You all will remain in the library for the duration of your punishment, unless I specifically state otherwise," he stated slowly and clearly, as though he was speaking to a group of toddlers, not high schoolers. "And no sleeping. I will be checking on you periodically and if any of you gives me any trouble, there will be further consequences. Understand?" Weatherbee finished.

After receiving a few simple nods and a grunt from Jughead, Weatherbee turned to leave the library. Jughead watched him slink away, barely able to quell his anger for the man, but he got distracted when he saw the incredulous look on Betty's face at his actions towards Weatherbee. He almost wanted to laugh and he felt his lips twitching a bit as he made eye contact and quirked one eyebrow her way.

Betty immediately swallowed and looked a bit horrified, before flustering and turning back around, fixing her blonde ponytail in the process. He looked to Archie, who was staring between Jughead and Betty with a more suspicious gaze. Kevin quickly glanced away as Jughead turned to look at him and Veronica appeared to have moved on from his performance and was fixing her pearls and cape again.

Jughead returned to staring at the table in front of him, a yawning overtaking his features. He wasn't about to sleep around this crowd, he knew better. He finally settled on staring up at the ceiling, his head back on the chair which made him able to fake the appearance of sleeping.

Meanwhile, Betty placed her head in her hands, as she came to the realization that she may die of boredom in his library if she didn't accomplish some work soon. _All of my work is on my phone_ , she thought. _It's too much to remember from memory._ She could feel the anxiety bubbling in her chest at the idea of doing nothing for eight hours and her fingers curled into her palms near her hairline unconsciously at the thought.

Archie took the opportunity to lay down his head and really take a nap, having the rare ability to fall asleep anywhere and after Weatherbee's quick departure he didn't seem in a hurry to return. His alarmingly red mop of hair was visible above his letterman jacket, his head turned away from Betty and tucked between his crossed arms on the table.

Kevin busied himself with planning his next Dungeons and Dragons campaign in his head, not needing to write it down to remember. His fingers drummed lightly against his face as he imagined the board in front of him, getting lost in a haze of fantasy battles and quests. He sort of regretted not bringing one of his novels to help with the planning, but with his dad watching him like a hawk since he awoke, Kevin hadn't wanted to risk further argument by retrieving the book from his room.

He was finished with his homework too, so that was out as a distraction. He had also read two whole chapters ahead in all of his classes, not that needed to share that with the world. _The geek moniker sticks well enough as it is._

Kevin knew if he concentrated enough he could picture everything in his head. So, he simply made himself comfy, rolling his neck and shaking his head, blocking out the world around him as he was all too familiar with doing.

Veronica continued to fuss over every detail of her flawless appearance simply because there wasn't much else to do, but eventually she got bored with that. _It's 2018_ , she mused. _Who survives with a cell phone? This is TRAGIC._ With a dramatic eye roll and a glance at the clock, she realized it had only been ten minutes, when it felt like ten hours. _This was going to be a different Saturday indeed_ , she concluded, before giving in, pulling her cape over her hair carefully, resting her head on her Chanel bag and attempting to catch some Zzzs.


	4. The Bored Scene

_"_ _Yeah I got a question. Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?" – John Bender_

So, this is what the world was like before cell phones and the internet. _And here I thought adults were always just being dramatic._ Veronica felt like she was going crazy with boredom, and it had been less than one hour since she entered this hell that was Saturday detention. A quick look around the library told her that her companions were otherwise occupying their time in their own little bubbles, which was fine by her. She thought a nap would help pass the time, but is she was being honest, she just shut her eyes and rested. Now, she had moved on from using her nearly one of a kind handbag as a pillow and was busying herself with adjusting her pearl necklace.

It was a simple, yet elegant piece of jewelry, which felt like a second skin to a Lodge. She found that touching it gave her a sense of comfort and often times a sort of strength before entering into an emotionally fueled or mentally abstract feud with a nemesis. Veronica reached back and fluidly undid the clasp of the chain, bringing the strand of pearls out in front of her, careful to avoid getting tangled in her cape, and laying them openly across her palms.

With nothing else to do, Veronica laid the strand down on the table in a straight line. She admired the strand in front of her, not something she often did as she rarely took them off, and simply reached for them almost absentmindedly when replacing them on her neck. Tilting her head side to side while she rested her chin between her left thumb and forefinger, Veronica surveyed the pearls like it was a piece of art.

Slowly, she reached out with her right hand, Veronica moved one side of the strand up the table with her finger, moving it around in a circle, until the pearls began to roll on their own away from her due to gravity. She watched the circle bounce back to almost straight before rolling a bit to a stop. The movement that made Veronica smile internally.

Next, she slowly gripped the sides of the strand with her fingers and lowered her head down to rest on the table, her eye level rising just above the shiny pearls. With one hand holding the strand still, she carefully pushed the pearls apart one by one, seeing just how tightly packed together and well-made they were. _Especially for their price._

She continued her counting before moving to roll the strand back and forth, letting it bend and twirl almost at will into various patterns, getting lost in the distraction and letting time fall away.

At the table in front of her, Kevin seemed rather happily engaged in a drawing of some kind. He had pulled a paper and pen from his backpack, finally giving up on mentally preparing a campaign, and Weatherbee never said they couldn't _draw_. His head leaned down so close to the table that his hair kept nearly brushing the page when his face when following a new line drawn.

This was his happy place. Just him and his creative thoughts, flowing out of him and onto the paper in fluid motion. Kevin had dozens and dozens of journals and pages at home of his favorite characters and even his own creations, different versions for different scenarios of course. _You need variety, plus you never know what situation your characters will encounter so always be prepared._

Kevin closed his eyes tightly after that thought, wincing at the implication. _Once a boy scout, always a boy scout._ But at least those summers camping, hiking, shooting and learning survival skills would keep his dad off his back. Or enable him to rough it in the woods for a few days, it if ever came to that.

With a deep shudder, Kevin erased the memories from his thoughts and returned to his drawing. It was a new section of map he was adding to the campaign, a new area to explore during a quest, having needed a new element to introduce for a creative change. He started off with a grid like pattern, crisscrossing the paper calculatingly just to make sure it was to scale. With a furtive glance around, he realized that maybe this day wouldn't be unproductive after all.

To his right, Jughead looked like he needed a mirror. Some heavy tresses of his jet-black hair had spilled out the side of his beanie, and he was fully consumed with pulling them out straight, twirling them a bit and letting them go back to their wild ways. He seemed both focused and amused by this activity, repeating it over and over, a bit methodically.

He had pushed his chair out a bit from the table and turned towards Kevin, which in reality gave him a better vantage point to see all the other Northsiders. It was between sly side eye glances towards each of them that Jughead finally noticed the errant black strand coming from the edge of his right glove. Freezing slightly and narrowing his eyes at the lone thread, Jughead reached into his jacket pocket and produced his switchblade easily, not looking away from his new adversary.

He flicked the blade up, extending the edge towards his glove, and swiftly placed the blade along the seam of the glove at the wrist. Grabbing the end of the thread with his pinky, he pulled it tight and pulled the blade down to cut the thread free. _Victory._

In his focus to get rid of the thread, Jughead nearly missed the glances from the others at the loud flick of his blade, but Betty was the only one still watching him. Or rather the blade, which is still held in his hand. He watched her face as he placed the blade down near the table and then shut it in a fluid motion. Her eyes didn't leave it, even then. So, he flicked it open once more and that's when her eyes flew up to his, an almost curious glint in her orbs before glancing away and cracking her neck, like she hadn't just been caught staring at his blade.

Betty was, at that present moment, no the picture of perfection. She was slumped over in her chair, her head balancing against the heel of her bent left hand, her elbow propped up low on the tabletop. She rolled her eyes after a quick look at the clock, completely annoyed that time could move so slow. She turned her head to the right, completely away from the others, from the distractions, and tried to concentrate on happier things.

Except, all she could think of was her work. She could almost feel the notes in her calendar, the new cheerleading moves, the deadlines for the dance, and everything else crawling into her brain before getting lost in a fog of anxious energy. Her green eyes that had been trained on a spot far up on the front wall of the library closed fast, a failed attempt to block everything out.

 _Just pick one thing to focus on._ The dance was the biggest obstacle she had to tackle, volunteering for the job before anyone else even cared. She tried to picture the gym where the River Vixens practiced decked out in crazy decorations for the "Casino Night" theme, red and black table clothes, streamers, and bright city lights like the Vegas Strip. Everyone had really wanted a masquerade ball theme according to the vote before winter break, but Principal Weatherbee had nixed that idea immediately, not wanting to give students a reason to cover up and cause mischief. So, Betty was left to brainstorm just weeks away from the big event and the idea of a whole day of planning wasted in detention sent her stress level through the roof.

Without even noticing, Betty had curled her fingers around some loose hair strands near her ears and had begun to pull lightly. The familiar tug of pain jolted her from her thoughts, righting her head and pretending to twirl the hairs around her finger in boredom as though she was being watched constantly.

Archie was tired, despite having just rested his head for a nap. He couldn't seem to actually sleep, but couldn't bring himself to lift his head and try something else. His eyes stayed closed, but he begins to fidget under the table. His leg jumps up and down on its own, his left foot tapping out a smooth rhythm on the carpeted floor. His fingers continued the beat against the edges of his jacket, but not loud enough for the others to hear. He even briefly let his head bop up and down to the beat before giving that up in case the others noticed.

He could almost feel the wheels turning in Betty's head as she sat closest to him and he tried not to focus on it. In between the taps of his feet he could near Jughead behind him, making some sort of noise, but he didn't bother turning around in the chair to find out. _Might lose the rhythm._

If he opened his eyes, he could probably see what Kevin and Veronica were doing. He was really getting into the rhythm though, and with his eyes closed, he could nearly feel the strings of his guitar under his fingers. That's what he probably be doing if he weren't being bored to death in this library. Archie really enjoyed the freedom that came with music, and his ability to get completely lost in it. He had many more hours left, so he realized that maybe he could be productive, or at least not be bored. With a deep sigh, Archie moved his head to face forward in between his arms and let the taps I the rhythm morph and change, entertaining him and bringing him peace.


	5. The Insults Scene

"You ought to spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people."—Vernon

Jughead leaned back in his chair, his head thrown back, staring at the ceiling tiles. He was so _bored_. He expected to be alone for this detention, mostly to catch up on sleep, but he wasn't about to shut an eye with all these northsiders around. With an annoyed groan, he pulled his head up and momentarily debated who to annoy first: Betty or Archie. The decision was quickly made for him though, when he noticed the blonde was digging in her purse for something. _Probably her soul_ , he reasoned. No one was that popular and busy and happy about it.

He felt a tug of delight fill his features when she pulled out a small compact, opened it, and immediately began scrutinizing her appearance by bending her face around to appear in the small space. Jughead was attempting to stifle a laugh when his eye caught a small red tub in her hand sparkling. _Of course. Appearances are everything with her._

Jughead abruptly sat up and leaned forward, clasping his hands together underneath his chin, his eyes focused on Betty's. From this angle, she could definitely see him in the mirror reflection.

At that moment though, she was attempting to remove the cap of the lip gloss in her hand, twisting it in her fingers, her gaze focused on the task at hand. Finally, she brought the tube of red, sticky gloss to her lips and her eyes looked back into the mirror. Jughead watched her apply it, the care she took with her application, the pressure her slim fingers applied to the tube, her squeezing her lips together in a calculating manner to ensure the gloss was evenly distributed.

Catching his gaze, Jughead licked his lips slowly, running his tongue along both his lips in an achingly slow manner, before tossing her a quick smooch and a suggestive wink through the mirror. She just stared back at him, mouth agape before she quickly looked away in disgust.

"Hey, _Cherry."_ Jughead addressed her loudly, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. Betty rolled her eyes at that and attempted to ignore him as he turned her face to the side to inspect her ponytail.

"Leave her alone, man," Archie sad gruffly, glaring in Jug's direction.

"Sorry, Cherry is your nickname? Got it." Jughead answered firmly to Archie. "Don't want to offend the precious football gods." He added, raising his palms out in front of him as if in surrender, faking a serious face.

"I pegged you for a vanilla girl anyway," Jughead tossed towards Betty, a smug grin on his lips.

"You're despicable," Betty said, snapping her compact closed loudly. "And it's strawberry. Obviously, too sophisticated for your tastes." She added with a huff of pride, like talking down to a Serpent was an everyday thing for her.

"So, you've thought about my tastes princess? I'm touched," Jughead countered, baiting her easily, with a big flip of his hair. He held a gloved hand to his chest in a big show of mock affection.

Betty quickly turned around in her seat to face Jughead, her green eyes glowing with rage, "Leave me alone, Jughead. I'm far too busy to think about someone like you." Jughead felt a pang of hurt at her directness, but he was not about to let the Northsider princess talk to him like that.

"Just in your dreams then, huh?" Jughead chuckled lightly and raised one eyebrow. "See you there."

The look she shot him was murderous, and if Jughead was honest with himself, he was a little impressed. _So, there is some fire in her._ _Even if it's suffocated behind all that pink, perfect, organized energy she called a life._

Suddenly, Betty's look went from murderous to rather pleased. "That's right, Jughead." She shot him a tight smile. "Because in your dreams is the only place you will ever see my bedroom."

His smirk froze on his face, before dropping into a more contemplative look _. Okay. Time to change tactics_ , Jughead mused instantly. He leaned forward, their heads were less than a foot apart, and gave her a seductive once over from head to toe. Despite his wandering eye, Betty kept her gaze on him, waiting for whatever was coming next.

"I imagine it's quite like your outfit," he began, locking eyes with her, a heated gaze thrown in to keep her attention. "Very pink. Very proper," he added, gestured to each article of clothing as he described it and then using air quotes. "Pastel colored or floral walls, maybe some yellow wallpaper…," he trailed off, eyeing her miniskirt, which had ridden up as she turned in her seat.

With a suggested smirk, he caught her gaze again, and saw she had softened it in surprise. She almost looked unsure of herself, searching his eyes for something, and made no move to stop him. _Right on the money, then. Typical princess._

"What else do you imagine?" she nearly whispered, so softly at first, he thought he imagined that. She had leaned in a bit, and despite her pink cardigan he could make out a tight outline of her chest out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't dare break her gaze. She seemed to almost be awaiting his reply on baiting breath.

"I imagine crawling into your bedroom window at night, watching you sleep." He paused, tilting his head in thought, his smirk growing as her eyes widened a bit in wonder. "Or maybe you're waiting for up for me. Yeah, wearing one of your cute pajama sets in bed- "

"Stop it" Archie interjected lowly, a commanding tone in his voice, pumping his fist hard on the table as he stared down at it. Everyone immediately turned their attention to him, even Veronica, who was surveying the conversation with mild interest.

"Not enjoying this Archie? Betty and I sure seem to be," Jughead drawled slowly, before glancing back to her only to discover her gaze still locked his way. "If the princess wants me to stop, I think she can speak for herself," he supplied, attempting to avoid another outburst from Archie when he'd rather spend his attention on Betty's reaction to his words.

Slamming his fist on the table, Archie replied, "If you ever slip through her window, I would be over there in a heartbeat and end you, bro!" He had turned towards Jug as he all but barked the clear threat.

"Ah," Jug answered. "Encroaching on your view…and your territory, I see," Jughead finished, leaning back while his eyes darted between Betty and Archie, gesturing a bit between them. He had said it purely to get a reaction from Archie, and he was in for a surprise.

"I don't belong to him," Betty stated, her voice strong, her eyes not leaving Jughead's. Archie's brow furrowed a bit as he stared at Betty, put stayed silent. _Interesting_ , Jughead thought.

The moment was broken however, when Archie reached out and touched Betty's right shoulder, breaking her reverie with Jughead, as she blushed and cleared her throat. Adjusting her ponytail, she turned back around in her seat as Archie did the same, his eyes following her closely as she studied her hands. _Well, this is unexpected_ , Jughead thought, as he watched the pair in front of him with renewed interest.

"It's 2018, why do women have to belong to _men_?" Veronica's voice boomed in the small space, although failing to get much of a reaction from the other occupants.

Jughead slowly turned his head to glance her way. "She speaks," he supplied in a bored tone.

"It cares," she replied, sarcasm lacing her tone, a finger pointed his direction. "Not to interrupt this riveting want to be love triangle the three of you obviously have going on, but could we please turn down the classic small-town misogyny? I mean, we're going to be stuck here for hours, we don't need to be cliché." Veronica heaved a deep sigh, reaching her outstretched hand through her hair and crossing her legs under the table as though the conversation was over because she said her piece.

Meanwhile, Kevin had turned around to face her, an incredulous look on his face at her wave of bravado for speaking to a Serpent like that. Veronica looked up at him, and as though reading his mind, supplied a small shrug. "it's not like you were going to do it," she spoke with a look so pointed Kevin suddenly became very interested in the color of his shoes. "Besides, I've dealt with worse in the West Village on a weekday," she spoke casually, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

Jughead seemed momentarily stumped by Veronica's words. He had all but ignored her in favor of going after Betty and Archie, but he had some history with them. He was saved from his thought by Kevin.

"Maybe we should all just try to get along, seeing as you so astutely pointed out, we are all stuck here together," Kevin stated, with a slight nod towards Veronica, which earned him a fake smile.

The banter was quickly broken however, when the janitor, Mr. Svenson, entered the library, his custodian cart engulfing the tranquil space in thunderous and chaotic noise. The middle-aged man kept his head down as he passed the tables of students, only lifting his head briefly to give a slight nod to Veronica along with a small "Miss Lodge," before continuing towards the back of the library.

"Carl," She responded rather cheerfully, giving the circumstances. As Carl moved to remove the trash from the librarian's desk, Veronica notified the other students eyeing her with stared ranging from curious to laughable.

"I didn't know your maid worked here," Jughead quipped sardonically, nodding back to Carl, who if had heard the exchange, gave no indication that he did.

"Be nice, Jughead," she responded, putting extra emphasis on the syllables in his name. "I'll have you know that he is the eyes and the ears of this institution. You could learn a lot from him," she finished, a thinly veiled threat in her tone not lost on the gang member.

"Look at you, being nice to the help," Jughead threw back with a mocking tone of wonder. "Didn't know you had it in you, miss mini mobstress!" he barked at her, feeling triumphant as her jaw dropped a bit at her nickname.

Veronica seemed to recover from that moment quickly, however, and turned to square her shoulders at Jughead, her mouth twisting to deliver what was sure to be a scathing retort, but nobody heard it.

"Why do you have to insult everyone, Jug?" Archie threw out, exasperated by the chaos Jughead was stirring up.

"Only my friends call me Jug, _Cherry_!" Jughead growled back roughly.

"Wait, people actually chose to be friends with you? And those other serpents don't count. Having a shitty snake tattoo doesn't make someone your friend," Archie continued incredulously, a spark of confidence invading his features, already done with Jughead's antics.

Both boys basically leapt from their seats at the same time. Archie moving around to stand face to face with Jughead, knocking his chair loudly into the table between them. The beanie clad boy slightly taller, a much more menacing look on his face, but Archie knew better. "You don't have friends you have fear, man," Archie nearly whispered right in Jughead's face, pointing a finger furiously right into his chest.

Kevin turned to look back and forth between both boys, a look of worry etched deep in his features and a mostly silent "Oh my god" leaving his lips, his eyes glued to the fight in front of him. Betty was watching the exchange with an almost enthralled expression, while Veronica was listening clearly, but not giving either of the boys the attention they wanted. Jughead huffed out a deep breath and appeared to be ready to throw a punch when –

"Hey! What's going on in there! I said NO TALKING!" Weatherbee's voiced boomed through the library, startling everyone and effectively breaking the tense moment, as Archie and Jughead stepped away from each other and sit down, both reaching up to fix their hair. The angered man soon appeared in the doorway again, poised to continue shouting when a new voice spoke.

"Oh sorry, sir. That was my fault. Just saying good morning," Mr. Svenson spoke softly, continuing to go about cleaning the library of trash. The man had a real knack for blending into the background.

This explanation seemed to startle Mr. Weatherbee, who took a moment to calm down and blink. "Morning, Carl," he stated, putting one hand on his hips, the other adjusting his tie. "Didn't see you back there." Weatherbee gestured to the students between them and continued," Just trying to keep some order around here."

"Well, I'm all done now." Carl replied, pushing the cart back towards the library doors. With one last lingering glance around the room, Weatherbee turned to follow him out.

"Oh, by the way. That clock's 15 minutes behind," Carl revealed lightly, like this piece of information didn't significantly alter the happiness of the five students behind him.

 _Little miss mobstress knows her stuff_ , Jughead thought heavily, his opinion of the raven-haired mystery shifting slightly towards something resembling respect. His eyebrows rose up subtly as he chanced a glance her way, and was treated to a knowing smirk.


	6. The Lunch Scene

"Do you think I'd speak for you? I don't even know your language."—Bender

Betty, Archie, Kevin, Jughead and Veronica were at that point all simultaneously convinced they were going to die of boredom. The clock said it was 11:45 when the library door opened and Principal Weatherbee strutted back in. "There is a drink machine in the student lounge. You can get drinks from there," Weatherbee ordered, looking around at the group of students before him. "Mr. Andrews, if you would be so kind," he continued, gesturing for Archie to get up and complete this errand. Which he did, begrudgingly pushing back the chair and rising, without making eye contact.

"Yup. Definitely teacher's pet, Arch," Jughead quipped from behind him, earning a glare from Weatherbee. "Maybe I should go with, those drinks might be heavy," he started to say, jumping up from his seat, but freezing at the sound of Weatherbee's voice.

"Absolutely not, Mr. Jones! You take your seat, young man," he boomed, his eyebrows raised, a flare of authoritarian anger in his eyes.

With a quick glance around the room before looking back at Jughead, who was faking a big pout, the principal said, "Miss Lodge will accompany Mr. Andrews." This caused the raven-haired young woman to freeze, as only Jughead, Weatherbee and Archie turned to look at her. She slowly turned her eyes a bit to her right, catching their gaze but still appearing uninterested. Betty hung her head and placed her palms on the back of her neck, clearly distressed to be left with Kevin and Jughead. _Or probably just Jughead._

Kevin didn't even seem to be paying attention, or it could be that he was terrified Weatherbee would find his drawings, which Kevin has furiously stuffed in his bag when Weatherbee entered the library minutes ago. His eyes were fixed on his hands, balled together on the table in front of him, almost like he was praying.

"Let's go, you two! Come on, get up. You have ten minutes and then I want both of you both in here. Understand?" Weatherbee stated, glancing between them for confirmation, to which Archie nodded and Veronica continued to stare. Without another word, Weatherbee gestured in front of him and Archie moved forward, not looking back or waiting for her. _I guess chivalry is dead, even in this small town._ With an eye roll, Veronica rose from her chair and slowly followed after them, taking her time without a care in the world.

They walked in complete silence, other than Veronica's boots clacking loudly on the marble floors of the hallway. Veronica walked a bit behind Archie, whose head was lowered, eyes glued to the floor, his arms barely swinging at his sides. If Veronica didn't know better, she'd think he was sleep walking. _What an odd image._ Her eyes traveled from his shoes to his bright mop of red hair, spiking out almost uncontrollably, and she could see how he was popular if for no other reason than that hair made him practically unmissable. _What was his deal?_

As if sensing her examination of him, Archie slowly turned his head over his shoulder and looked back, an unreadable expression on his face. When their eyes met, Veronica glanced away, pretending to fix her hair and surprisingly Archie did the same. At last they made it to the student lounge, a small room near the front of the building filled with couches, comfy chairs, vending machines and even a pool table.

Archie stooped just in front of the drink vending machine and turned back to her, watching her expression change from inquisitive to slight annoyance. "So, what's your favorite?" he inquired lightly, holding up the ID card Weatherbee had handed him on the way out of the library, which would get them access to the drinks without money. His mistake was not specifying how many drinks they could get.

Veronica stood in front of the machine with her eyes focused on the slim choices in front of her. _All over sugared, over flavored and over-priced_ , she thought. She tapped her fingers lightly on her purse, her head tilting slightly to the side as she tried to determine which of these poisons she could probably keep down.

"Ugh, I would kill for a milkshake from Pop's right about now," she huffed, mostly to herself, but it definitely caught Archie's attention.

"Yeah? What flavor?" He asked, with a tint of surprise in his voice that she mentioned his favorite diner. _The town's only diner, but still, she didn't have to eat there._

Veronica turned her body slightly towards his, as Archie leaned a bit against the machine, the yellow of his jacket sleeve standing out even more prominently against the black metal. Veronica eyed him with a knowing look and said," Dark chocolate of course," before lifting her chin and giving him a bit of a smile. Archie seemed to accept that answer as if his slight eyebrow raise and nod was any indication.

"What about you?" She quipped, her eyes still on his.

With a slight shake of his head and a glance at the floor, Archie answered, "I dunno. Dark chocolate good. I usually get something different every time. Depends on who I'm with."

Veronica's eyes narrowed a bit at that, unsure of his implication. Looking back at the choices, Veronica sighed deeply. "If my phone hadn't been confiscated by the dark education overlord of his school I would totally order us all something to get through this," she stated, her tone heavy with dramatic flare.

"But it appears this is it, so. . .I will go with. . . Diet Coke," she finished, her hand reaching out to scan the button choices up and down before finally choosing one. She pulled her hand back quickly and clasped her hands together in front of her chest, beaming with pride.

Archie, who had watched her whole process a bit bewildered, sent her a puzzled look, which she chose to ignore. "Diet Coke it is then," he spoke quietly, pushing away from the machine and stepping in front of her a bit to get to the buttons.

Meanwhile, back in the library, Betty, Kevin, and Jughead were all finding new ways to occupy their time while the duo was off getting drinks.

Betty was thirsty. Archie and Veronica had been sent to the student lounge to get drinks, and it felt like they had left hours ago. Betty subconsciously reached for fingers towards her hair but stopped herself at the last minute. _She needed a distraction._

Betty heard a loud band behind her and turned to see Jughead tossing books off of a library cart onto the floor. He would pick up another, examine the name, crack the book open to a random page, read a line out loud, and then toss it.

He sat atop of a short library bookshelf located about halfway across the room. Kevin was leaning against a round table just a few feet to the left, letting Jughead's antics entertain him.

After watching them for a few moments, Betty rose from the chair and cautiously walked closer to them, her hands tightly clasped behind her back. She came to a short stop just in front of Kevin, who was too busy watching Jughead read stoically about French art.

"I like it," he stated flatly, twisting the book sideways briefly before showing it to Kevin. "What do you think?" The page held a color image of a barely covered female statue, surrounded by pink flowers and an elaborate water feature.

Kevin hesitated a bit before stuttering, "Yeah, it's n-nice…" gesturing a bit to the page without really glancing at it, which was completely obvious to both Betty and Jughead, through her furrowed gaze and his curious smirk.

"Maybe we should be calling you Cherry," Jughead muttered, glancing between Kevin and the page twice. The silence that followed was broken suddenly when Jughead snapped the book shut and tossed it, already moving on to a rant about life on the American West, courtesy of a book with an old-fashioned wagon train. Kevin lowered his head and stared at the floor, while Betty didn't know what to say.

Jughead's rant about the high probability of dying from cholera was interrupted when the library swung open and Veronica strolled in, a fresh diet coke in her hands, Archie entering behind her carrying the rest before depositing them on the nearest table.

"Finally," Betty breathed out exhaustedly. Making a bee line for the sodas to end her parched throat. _Thankfully it's diet coke._

"I'm more of a Mountain Dew guy, but coke's a good choice too," Kevin supplied as he reached the table, a hint of pride in his voice. This earned him a blank stare from both Archie and Jughead before they reached for a soda and everyone returned to their original seats without another word.

Betty placed the can near the edge of her table and reached beneath her for her backpack. She pulled out her lunch and carefully placed the bag on the table in front of her. She then preceded to methodically remove her lunch items, placing them an equal width apart on the table. Her lunch consisted of the Alice Cooper special: a perfectly cut and portioned BLT sandwich on wheat bread, a water bottle of freshly pressed juice, 3 impeccably decorated sugar cookies, and a note of curly, legible cursive telling her to have a nice day complete with smiley face. _The perfect lunch for the perfect girl,_ Jughead thought.

Jughead eyed Kevin strongly as he pulled out a crisp brown paper bag from his backpack. He seemed rather carefree and happy, not noticing the attention from Jughead at all. His lunch consisted of an apple, a thermos of soup, and what looked like a blueberry muffin. _A law enforcement lunch no doubt_ , Jughead mused, although Kevin seemed pleased, or at least thirsty as if the way to drunk down the warm soup instead of the coke was any indication.

Then his gaze turned to Archie, who had laid out all his food on the table in front of him by dumping it all out of his backpack at once. This consisted of two oranges, three ham and cheese sandwiches (rather haphazardly made and stuffed in plastic bags), two bags of potato chips, and half a leftover pepperoni pizza. By the time the food settled on the table, everyone was staring at him.

Archie looked around at them and gave a small shrug. Veronica looked a bit amused, Betty a tad disgusted. "Are you really going to eat all that?" she inquired a note of judgment in her voice. Archie just shrugged, and Kevin looked rather impressed.

Kevin nodded at Jughead. "Where's yours?"

Jughead hilted his head towards Archie. "Cherry here is eating for the both of us," he sneered, as Archie did his best to ignore the comment and dug into one of the sandwiches. They all continued to eat in silence, as Jughead reached for a diet coke that Archie had deposited on the table. He halted his movements, however, when he heard a loud crunch behind him.

Veronica wasn't paying attention to them. She was consumed with eating her green pear, in an incredibly methodic and still predatory way. She licked her lips in between each large bite, savoring the flavor as her eyes scanned the fruit for her next bite. Betty, Archie and Kevin glanced back her way together, while Jughead appeared to be just gawking at her.

"Don't choke. I'm not explaining that to the Godfather," he threw out, almost with a hint of sincerity. Veronica narrowed her dark eyes at him and took a large bit with extra crunch and began to chew slowly, still not breaking eye contact with Jughead. Kevin's eyebrows rose at this exchange, a look of wonder on his features. _Life was so much different before I spent time near this girl_ , Kevin thought.


	7. The Hallway Scene

"Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place."—Bender

After lunch was over, the boredom was beginning to set in again. Betty felt sleepy from all the food she'd eaten. Archie wished he could exercise, not used to being this sedentary on the weekends. Even Kevin wasn't sure how to stave off the boredom.

"Okay, let's blow this joint," Jughead stated loudly as he got up from his seat. When he was met with silence, and ignored entirely on Veronica's part, he said, "We're young, We need our exercise," Jughead exclaimed, raising his fists in the air.

Archie seemed to perk up at that, and stood up as well. At Betty and Kevin's incredulous looks, he shrugged again, which caught Veronica's attention. "Would be nice to move around a bit," Kevin provided as he came to stand near Archie and Jughead.

"Count me in," Veronica quipped, moving towards the group. Betty threw her hands up and said, "If we're going to do this, we're doing it together. If Weatherbee comes back, I'm not taking the fall-"

Jughead interrupted, "Yeah, no ruining your perfect reputation, we got it," as he brushed past her, bumping her shoulder lightly and giving her a pointed smirk. Jughead opened the door, stuck out his head and scouted the hallway. There was no sign of Weatherbee of anyone else. He beckoned the others behind him forward with his gloved hands.

Jughead strolled down the hallway confidently. Betty walked just a tad behind him, shoulders tensed at the notion of being caught breaking the rules. _In detention of all places_ , she thought. Kevin and Archie walked almost side by side but didn't speak. Veronica walked last and was slowest, trying to not let her boots clack on the tile floor quite as loudly, as the noise would alert anyone to their location. _Lodge women don't get caught_ , she mused with a sigh, keeping her face neutral as to appear unbothered by the journey.

The group had turned left out of the hallway, before taking another hallway off to the left. Archie, looked over his shoulder briefly, before his eyes scanned the rooms as they passed, pulling his jacket tighter around his body, realizing they were heading to the athletic department. "Where are we going, Jug?" Archie asked. "You'll see Cherry," Jughead replied rather flatly, fixing his hair and beanie as he seemed to put up the pace.

Suddenly Jughead turned to a stop at a large blue door on his right. He gestured to the door and then looked back at Archie. "You want to do the honors, sporto?" he teased, raising his eyebrows in question.

Archie huffed a bit but didn't respond. He moved to open the door and Jughead stepped back to let him. Moments later the whole gang was taking in the site of the boys' locker room at Riverdale high.

"What are we going to do in here?" Betty inquired, quite bewildered as to why their secret journey took them from books to jocks. Jughead appeared to have ignored her, as he made his way through a sea of lockers to a blue one on the third row of five. It was the fifth locker from the front, with a piece of tape across the top indicating that it was Reggie Mantle's locker. The other four students stopped behind him and watched enthralled as Jughead made quick work of the lock using his knife, opening the locker before rummaging through it.

"That's breaking and entering," Kevin muttered in Betty's direction, which Jughead chose to ignore to focus on his rummaging of Reggie's locker. Betty, Kevin and Archie continued to stare at Jughead as he clearly searched for something, while Veronica leaned back lightly against a neighboring locker, her cape swishing lightly before getting trapped behind her as she crossed her ankles and brought a hand up to run across her pearls lightly as she gazed down at her boots, feigning indifference as she watched them from her peripheral vision.

Jughead suddenly pulled a small, opaque, black plastic bag from the back of the locker, a small smirk on his face, as a hand came up brush some hair that had escaped his beanie away, before reaching to open the bag. Betty, Archie Kevin and even Veronica leaned closer to get a glimpse, as Jughead reached a gloved hand into the bag and pulled out five thin rolls of paper that looked like pixie sticks.

Jughead was quick to stuff the sticks back into the bag and seal it up, before placing the parcel discreetly in his jacket pocket. Behind him, Kevin's eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets, his mouth pulled into a thin line as he pressed his lips before to seal in a small scream. Beside him, Betty's mouth dropped open in a silent gasp, she subconsciously smoothed her ponytail to busy her hands, but her eyes held a glint of interest and she could see her next Blue & Gold headline typing itself across her computer screen. _Reggie Mantle. Drug dealer._

Veronica looked a bit impressed, raising one eyebrow up slowly, but masked it by rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. _It's not nose candy, but maybe these townies do know how to party._

Archie's face was blank, except for a slight narrowing of his eyes and furrowing his brow. "How'd you know that was in there, man?" Archie asked, leaning into to Jughead, who by now was pulling his serpent jacket tighter across his chest and moving to re-secure the lock on Reggie's locker.

"Sweet Pea sold it to him last night at the Drive-In. Jock was trying to score points with the mayor's kid apparently." Jughead revealed as he turned towards them, bumping Archie's shoulder as he moved past without making eye contact. "Dumbass shouldn't make his lock code his birthday, especially if he insists on throwing himself a birthday rager every year," he finished.

"Drugs?" Kevin stated, his voice thick with disbelief. "Boy has jingle jangle at school of all places?" he continued, staring hard at Reggie's now closed locker with a shake of his head, his face turning to disappointment.

"Way to be late to the party, Kevin," Jughead replied, pausing at the end of the row of lockers when he noticed no one was behind him. "You guys going to die here or what?" he asked sarcastically, throwing his hand up in question. He turned to walk back towards the front of the locker room. Archie didn't seem to know what to do or have a reply, so he just followed Jughead, making eye contact with Veronica, who tilted her head and let her dark eyes follow his before pushing off from the locker she was leaning back against and following as well, no longer bothering to silence her boots. Betty, Veronica, and Kevin eventually followed, although after a few beats because his feet seemed unable to move to the realization that Reggie Mantle of all people was Riverdale's High's jingle jangle dealer.

Jughead opened the door and walked out into the hall before stopping dead, his gaze locked ahead of them. The other four followed his example when they realized why: Weatherbee was slowly walking across a perpendicular hall towards a staircase leading to the second floor of the school, not thirty yards in front of them. He didn't notice them as he slowly walked out of sight, and a pin drop would've sounded like a bomb in that deafening silence. Or it would have if a relieved, deep breath out from Kevin hadn't had the exact same effect.

Jughead wasn't about to take a chance of being caught, so he turned back around quickly just as the others did, and scrambled back through the locker room door. He slithered back to the front of the pack, silently motioning for them to follow him back through the sea of lockers. He finally turned left and pushed open another blue door on the back wall, ushering the group into the small, crowded equipment room that existed between the locker room and the door leading out to the football field.

Kevin, whose feet were still having trouble keeping up with the unexpected events of the day, all but fell into Archie, as he was too busy looking back for a sign of Weatherbee and closing the door to bother looking ahead of him. Archie had come to a stop just inside the doorway to the left, as to not bump into Veronica and Betty who were standing side by side in front of him.

Archie, not expecting the jostle, tripped into some equipment bags that were stacked just beside him, full of training equipment for football practice. Unfortunately, the sound of plastic helmets and pads moving together across the floor after being squished by the team's starting quarterback made quite a ruckus.

Kevin gasped in horror while he managed to right his body to avoid following Archie to the floor, another silent "Oh my god," leaving his lips. Veronica, Betty and Jughead's eyes got wide as they watched Archie fall and couldn't look away.

 _There's no way Weatherbee didn't hear that_ , Betty thought. She bit her lip in apprehension, looking back up quickly and her wide eyes meeting Jughead's whose eyes looked equally worried but his expression was much more guarded. He blinked suddenly and said, "Well, at least one of got some exercise sporto," before turning on his heel and moving towards a set of three doors along the wall to the left, which held the coaches private offices.

There was a row of safety glass windows about halfway up the wall next to each door linking them together, so anyone in the weight room could see in and vice versa, and another row of glass on the far blue wall of each office, revealing a parallel hallway so the staff could access the offices without going through the locker room. It led to the main hallway whether they had entered the locker room, and it was their only way out without being caught.

Betty seemed to catch on to the idea of the faster, moving to the first door and trying it, only for it to clang loudly indicating that it was locked. The agitation on her face growing, she looked to her right to see Jughead trying the second door, only to get the same reaction. He sprinted down to the third door, farthest from the blue door they'd entered from, and Betty sent up a prayer.

Jughead's gloved hand wrapped around the handle and yanked it open, but catching the door before the handle clang against the window. Betty felt relief rush through her veins, for once without reaching for her hair, the feeling mixed with the adrenaline from breaking the rules and she ran down to the door Jughead held open.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise behind them and turned back to look at the equipment room door. Weatherbee had clearly entered the boys' locker room, his footsteps could be heard hitting the tile as everyone froze in silence. The only thing saving them was Weatherbee was clearly looking through all the locker rows instead of heading right for the weight room.

Archie had quickly gotten to his feet and adjusted his letterman jacket at the same time, as the back had come up towards his shoulders when he bowled over the equipment bags. Kevin gripped the back of the letterman jacket when he realized the footsteps behind them were Weatherbee's. The look Kevin and Archie shared seemed to convey that they both didn't want that to happen again, so if Kevin had to hold on, so be it. _This is why I prefer my non-contact sports_ , Kevin mused, taking his mind off the tense situation. Veronica, who had continued to watch the fall, gaped at Archie and whispered harshly," Are you okay?" as Archie just nodded in reply before pointing back to Jughead who he noticed had gotten a door open.

The trio ran back to the open door, and Betty turned to greet them with a harsh "We're so busted," and a clear attempt to hold back tears. She turned back to Jughead as he took the drugs out of his pocket, looked her in the eye and said," No. Only me," he stepped back and gestured them through the door. "Just get back to the library, now!" he whispered through gritted teeth as Betty, Archie, Kevin and Veronica didn't move. This seemed to motivate them as Betty, Archie, and Kevin as moved to pass through the open door, Betty immediately grasping the far down handle and pushing it open into the hallway to freedom. She looked back at the group with a wide smile beneath her still terrified eyes.

"Go! Go!" Jughead practically yelled, gesturing wildly, as he moved to stuff the drugs in his hand into Veronica's cape as she finally moved through the open door no longer blocked by the bodies of Archie, Betty, and Kevin. If she objected to it, she certainly didn't voice it.

Betty held the other door open for Archie, Kevin and Veronica to move through, before looking back at Jughead, who was still standing inside the equipment room. "What about you," she asked incredulously.

"Don't get your panties in a twist for me, princess," Jughead replied, his tone between sarcasm and sincerity. Veronica gave him her best unimpressed look, before looking to Kevin who was glancing towards the open hallway to their right, and to Archie who almost seemed to be waiting for her gaze and gave her a short shrug.

In the end, Kevin was the first to move. "Come on guys!" he whispered in exasperation, moving to run down the open hallway, looking back at them like they were all crazy for standing around. Veronica and Archie kept eye contact until they both sprinted down the brightly lit hallway after Kevin, and Betty shot Jughead one last look of worry before she followed.

After Betty took off, Jughead slammed the nearby office door shut, so he was alone in the equipment room. He quickly ran back over to the equipment bag Archie had toppled over, and grabbed the first thing his gloved fist closed around – a training helmet, a made quite another ruckus. He knelt his left knee on the ground as he ducked his head and tried to force the helmet over his beanie, when the locker room door swung open again, hitting him in the helmet and forcing him to sit back on the floor with his hands splaying out behind him to keep from falling back.

Jughead looked back up to see Weatherbee standing halfway behind the door, giving him a rough glare. "Jones!" he bellowed loudly in the small room, "What are you doing? What is this?!" he demanded.

Jughead forced a chuckle out of his lips and replied in a joking tone, "Oh, spending the morning with Andrews convinced he to try out for the football, sir. I was super excited about it," he continued, pointing to his helmet," but clearly it doesn't fit over the beanie, so it's a no, but I had to be sure."

Weatherbee used his left hand to push his eyes up the end of his nose, crossed his arms over his chest and lowered his gaze as Jughead, anger clear on his features. "On the bright side," Jughead continued with a smirk as he knocked his fist on the top of the helmet, "the equipment works, so the football team can't blame their stupidity on all those hard hits. Should save the school board some money," he finished with a smile, almost proud of his quip in this moment of need.

"That's it, Jones! You're done for the day. Get up!" Weatherbee bellowed, reaching out to pull Jughead from the floor. Jughead moved back quickly, getting up on his own power and removing the helmet, one hand on his beanie to keep is secure. "Put that down, and let's GO!" Weatherbee demanded.

Jughead thought about throwing it across the room, but this little show gave the group more than enough time to get back to the library, so he feigned indifference and dropped the helmet from his left hand onto the floor with a loud clatter. He moved to walk around Weatherbee and the man grabbed the back of his jacket as they made their way back across the locker room to the library.

Meanwhile, Betty, Archie, Veronica and Kevin had pushed through the coaches' hallway door, all looking to make sure the coast was clear, careful not to attract any unwanted attention. They could hear noises coming from the equipment room, so Weatherbee was still distracted. Kevin looked between the Betty and Veronica and then muttered a quiet, "let's go!" before the group was rushing down the main hallway to the library.

Betty had just managed to smooth her ponytail and her skirt when the library door swung open and Jughead entered, with Weatherbee grasping his jacket behind him. Archie and Kevin, who were both adjusting their clothes to busy their hands looked up and froze at the sight, while Veronica kept her eyes on the table in front of her, the bag of drugs still hidden in the hood of her cape behind her back out of sight, fingering her pearls again and thanking herself for the foresight to where her comfortable designer boots. Fashion didn't have to be uncomfortable, it was just more of a struggle to find, and these weren't even her main pair thanks to her family money. _Dressing down on the weekends appears to have advantages,_ she mused.

Weatherbee and Jughead stopped just in front of the table where Archie and Betty had resumed their seats. "Mr. Jones here won't be joining you for the rest of the day. He took it upon himself to trash the equipment room," Weatherbee stated to the group, as Archie and Kevin looked away, Jughead grew his head back in a defiant gesture and looked down meeting Betty's intense gaze that showed sorrow, regret, and relief. Jughead wasn't sure which emotion affected him more, so he just focused on the color of her green eyes, before stating, "But what will these fine students do with their time without me to corrupt them?"

"Considering their crimes, they don't need you to corrupt them Mr. Jones," Weatherbee hissed in Jughead's ear. Veronica looked up at him sharply at the word "crimes," her eyes narrowing a bit as she looked between Weatherbee and Jughead. Weatherbee gripped Jughead's jacket a tad tighter, clearly restricting him. "I suppose you think it a big joke to pull a fire alarm to get you out of first period, son, but all you did was interrupt these fine students' actual important activities and studies," Weatherbee finished.

Betty's eyebrows furrowed and her eyes held the unasked question as she looked at Jughead after Weatherbee's reveal. But he had looked back up, so she glanced at Archie, who wore the same expression as her, while Kevin looked like he'd been slapped before lowering his hands into his hands in a clear attempt to hide his expression. Veronica also looked surprised, and even rather disappointed, like she was expecting more for the gang member and had been let down.

"You will be bothering them no more, Mr. Jones. Let's go," Weatherbee said, pulling Jughead back out of the library with him. The shutting of the library door was loud, accentuating the silence in the quiet space as Betty, Archie, Kevin and Veronica took in the events of the past hour in their own ways.

Betty tore her gaze from the closed door and preceded to go over every single moment that had transpired between her and everyone, but especially Jughead, since he entered the library and caught her attention. She pressed her fingers tightly into her hair, shut her eyes and tried to gain some control over the situation, but silently knew that comfort would never come. _What just happened?_

Archie continued to stare wide-eyed at the closed library door, a little shell shocked by the revelation of Jughead's reason for detention. He blinked slowly, before finally looking down at his hands he's clasped tightly in his lap. He didn't even know why he was surprised. _It is Jughead, after all. But still, after all this time?_

Kevin swallowed thickly and willed himself to calm down, as he slowly lowered his head to the table in front of him. It wasn't until he blinked that he realized he'd shut his eyes tightly, moving his hands into his hair and breathing slowly _. Jughead pulled the fire alarm? Then he has to know why I'm here, right?_

 _Loyalty like that is hard to find_ , Veronica thought as she sighed deeply and sat back in her chair, her fingers moving back and forth over her pearls. She pursed her lips in thought, looking over at the empty chair where Jughead once sat with a new interest she knew wouldn't fade quickly. _This has been quite a Saturday, indeed._


	8. The Drugs Scene

"Being bad feels pretty good, huh?"—Bender

Jughead moved down the hallway at a much brisker pace than unusual, due to the fact that Principal Weatherbee had the back of his Serpent jacket in a death grip. His boots slapped loudly on the ground as they walked, Jughead trying to suppress a few well timed eye rolls to avoid Weatherbee's attention while the man droned on about being a terrible influence and throwing his life away for a gang. _Blah blah blah_ , Jughead thought. Thankfully, he was saved when Weatherbee pulled them to a stop in the middle of a short row of doors off of the activities hall and turned to the left. There was an ordinary brown door in front of them, a large piece of frosted glass in the window, and no indication of what the room was used for.

Weatherbee let him go briefly to pull out a set of keys and unlock the door. "Let's go, Jones," Weatherbee stated firmly as he grabbed Jughead's elbow and opened the door. Jughead walked through the door to find a relatively large room that appeared to be used for storage. There was some sunshine coming through a row of short windows in the back of the room, revealing that it faced towards another section of the school. _Not a room with a view then_ , Jughead mused.

Jughead walked forward and attempting to lift a wide, white sheet off of what looked like a group of computers stacked on desks collected in the center of the room. But Weatherbee's hand on his arm stopped him. "Don't touch anything, Mr. Jones," Weatherbee explained. "There is a full inventory of this room so don't get any ideas, bub."

"Curiosity killed the cat. Got it." Jughead replied, steadying himself on his feet. Weatherbee let him go, with a huff, staring at Jughead like he wanted to punch him. "Okay, Mr. Jones. Mr. Jokester. Let's see you entertain yourself here, all alone for the rest of the day. I had the power to this part of the school turned off, so all the technology in here is useless for you," Weatherbee continued, a rather satisfied smirk on his lips. "It will just be you in here, Jones. Just you, alone. You and your thoughts," he said his voice rising slightly to emphasize his point. Weatherbee took one hand off of his hips and pointed in towards Jughead's face a foot away.

"Some silence will do you good, Mr. Jones. Maybe that this opportunity to really think about your life. With no distractions. Or drugs. Or gang violence. I may not be able to control what you do outside these halls, but when you are here, you are MINE!" he yelled loudly.

"You will not control or corrupt other students and you will not risk people's safety like you did with your little fire alarm stunt. You enjoy your solitude in here, Mr. Jones. And when you get detention, and you will, I will personally lock you in this room the entire time just to ensure your solitude. Just you and your thoughts," he finished, dropping his finger, adjusting his tie and checking his watch, not catching the surprise on Jughead's face.

"You can't do that. That's-" Jughead started, but was cut off by Weatherbee.

"Yes I can. I am the principal bub. They love me around here. I am respected in these halls. No one respects you or that jacket. They wouldn't believe you either. Especially when I tell them you've been dealing jingle jangle on school property. Jughead's face went from surprised to alarmed in seconds, taking a full step back from Weatherbee, his brow furrowing as the man's confidence.

"Don't even bother denying it. I know that's why you were in the locker room. Probably distributing your stash. Mr. Mantle may be a talent on the field, but he's got a big mouth." Weather finished, a sick smirk on his lips.

"You threatening me, sir? A minor? Not the best career move," Jughead replied, his voice much more confident than the terror in his mind.

"And losing his college football scholarship isn't Mr. Mantle's best career move," Weatherbee continued with a pointed look at Jughead. "I ask him where he got his stuff and he says Serpents. And here I have before me, the Serpent Prince himself, who I just caught in the boys' locker room," he explained with mock surprise that turned into a knowing smirk.

 _Damn_ , Jughead thought. He quickly glanced away from Weatherbee and gulped, not wanting him to see the turmoil on his face. His dark hair fell into his eyes and his throat felt like a rock was stuck in it, but he saw Weatherbee's shoes as the man stepped closer. "You enjoy your solitude, Mr. Jones," he added with a pause, "Or do I need to have a conversation with Mr. Mantle on Monday?" he finished, leaning in and down trying to catch Jughead's eye.

Jughead looked back up, but didn't reply. "That's what I thought," Weatherbee finished, chuckling to himself a bit before turning on his heel and walking out the door, slamming it unnecessarily. The lock click sounded like a deafening boom that reverberated around the room, and Jughead felt his lips turn into a defeated frown as his heart sunk into his stomach. He dropped into a nearby chair and grabbed his beanie with both hands, his head nearly dropping to his knees as he fought back the frustration and anger at this situation. _This morning had started off so well_ , he thought.

Back in the library, the atmosphere wasn't any cheerier. Veronica was staring aimlessly at the table, not sure what the rest of the day would hold. Jughead had appeared to be the glue that held their little rule breaking group together. Her thoughts turned to the bag of drugs in her cape hood, which she still hadn't touched. _Daddy would be furious_ , she mused. _The words plausible deniability are a Lodge's best friend._ Yet, she couldn't bring herself to care. With another sigh, she moved to lean her face on her arms on top of the table, careful not to disrupt her hood.

Kevin seemed to be more fidgety than ever. Unable to deal with the recent events of the day. _This is definitely not how I saw Saturday detention_ going, he thought. _Neither did Dad I'm sure._ He kept subconsciously twirling his fingers together in his lap, trying to focus. _Where was Jughead? What about the drugs?_ He gasped suddenly, getting Betty and Archie's attention, who turned to look at him, but closed his mouth and looked away, pretending not to back made eye contact. _Veronica still had the drugs. What would she do with them? Would the others tell people what happened today? Of course, they will. They have friends. Ugh, I need friends. Maybe-_

But Kevin's thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt, loud, squeaking noise coming from the back corner of the library. All at once, Kevin, Veronica, Betty and Archie turned to look behind them and got a shock.

Jughead was in the library. Or rather his boots were. Jughead was currently descending into the back of the library from a low ceiling. His boots swung a bit haphazardly before finding purchase on a tall bookcase that held large, red, reference books that no one ever used. The foursome all stared dumbfounded at Jughead as his face became visible and his gloved hands let go of the sides of the ceiling tile he was descending out of, landing lightly on the bookcase like it was a regular practice. He clapped his hands together once, caught his beanie before it slid off his head, and swiftly jumped down off the bookcase and strolled over to the group as if nothing was amiss.

"Thought you'd all be bored without me," Jughead stated, stopping next to Veronica, but only glaring at Archie and Betty. Archie rolled his eyes and turned back around. Betty closed her mouth, which had dropped embarrassingly low while Jughead landed. Kevin's eyebrows rose at Jughead's words and tilted his head a bit as if acknowledging that the gang member wasn't entirely wrong.

"Got something for me, doll?" Jughead asked lightly, turning and looking down at Veronica, who was staring at him with what he realized was a hint of respect. Veronica bristled a bit at his nickname, turning in her chair to face him, putting herself between him and the drugs. "Call me that again and it will be the last insult you fling, Crybaby," Veronica responded dryly, her left index finger coming out to point up at his face as if to intimidate him.

"You didn't object to being my mule. Or taking the fall," he continued. After a beat, Veronica almost mechanically reached her left hand behind her and plucked the small bag from her hood and placed it in Jughead's outstretched palm, without either breaking eye contact. "Cheers," Jughead said airily, before examining the package and looking back at her. "Daddy would be proud, I'm sure." Jughead gave a slight bow and walked off towards a couch on the left side of the room, a few feet before the bookcase he had landed on, which was intended for large study groups in the library.

"Wait, are you going to take that in here?" Kevin asked in the direction Jughead had walked away, a bit unsure.

"There's enough for all of us, Howdy Doody," Jughead replied, not looking back just lifting the empty bag into the air to prove a point.

To everyone's surprise, Betty was the first person out of her seat. Archie couldn't whip his head around fast enough as she got up, adjusting her pink cardigan and smoothing the top of her ponytail, before walking confidently to where Jughead sat unknowingly of her arrival, skillfully avoiding Archie outstretched left arm to stop her.

"Seriously?" The red-headed jock asked, outraged at Betty who was completely calm. He watched as she ignored him and walked back to the blue couch where Jughead sat, sitting directly to his right and looking at him expectantly. He turned back around, disgusted with the display, crossing his arms over his chest and displacing his letterman jacket, but making no move to fix it.

Kevin, whose eyes had followed Betty's journey with a mixture of awe and surprise, simply turned back to face the front of the library. He pulled the paper with the map he had drawn earlier closer to him, expecting to feel joy at the idea of continuing it, but something stopped him, making his eyes widen. _Betty Cooper, Riverdale's good girl is about to do drugs with the Serpent Prince in the library during Saturday detention_ , he realized. _I cannot miss the most exciting gossip that has ever happened in this town!_ Quickly making his face neutral, Kevin turned the paper over, pushed his chair back, got up and leisurely walked back towards Betty and Jughead, but sat on a blue armchair to the right of Betty. A prime place to appear nonchalant but still be in earshot range.

Archie had turned his head when he heard Kevin get up from his chair, but remained silent. _The first time I spent with Jughead and years and he brings drugs_ , he thought. _Dad was right, trouble follows Jughead._ He scoffed at the idea that Jughead was just a loner and stayed out of the drug trade even when other Serpents did. Archie clenched his jaw and removed his arms from around his chest, his letterman jacket falling open even more, nearly coming off his shoulders. He could feel the boredom setting in again, trying not to think of Betty and Kevin back there with Jughead, presumably enjoying themselves if the lack of loud fighting from that direction was any indication.

"Whatever," Archie muttered under his breath, shaking his head and if disapproving his own actions. He placed his right hand on the table edge in front of him and pushed himself away roughly, knocking his chair back nearly sideways, as he turned to stomp towards the back of the library where the others were, pulling at his jacket in agitation to right it across his shoulders.

Veronica felt more shocked watching Archie walk back towards the group, then she had with Betty and Kevin. She gaze was still locked on his back, even as he took a stick from Jughead's hand and deposited himself on a couch outside Betty and Jughead. _Even good girls have their moments. And vices,_ she mused. _And being the sheriff's kid either made Kevin in need of friends or the worst narc I've ever seen. But Archie?_

Veronica was stumped when it came to him. She understood the impulse to conform and do drugs out of boredom, she was a New York City elite after all. But the casual way these misfits came together to get high together seemed a little staged even more a town as small as this. Betty didn't even hesitate or rant about getting caught. _Snake over there is a better wrangler than expected._

If Veronica was honest with herself she respected his approach to the whole situation. It definitely got him all the attention and control he wanted. He was clearly not to be underestimated and Veronica figured his fuck the world attitude was more of a cover for an ulterior motive, which at the moment was wearing an outdated pink cardigan probably handed down from her mother. Quirking an eyebrow, she adjusted her cape, and rose from her chair to join the group, sitting in an armchair to Jughead's left to have a better observation of his antics. Jughead held out one of the short, blue sticks towards her, but she waved him off, intent to enjoy the show.

Kevin had never done drugs before. He knew other kids did. And with his dad being sheriff he knew a lot about drugs. Like why people do them, what drugs they do, where they get them (they always cracked under his dad's questioning), but the never did them, until today. Knocking back his head and letting the sugary substance trickle down his throat took only a few seconds, and Kevin really thought the moment would be much more momentous. He sat back in the chair and waited patiently for something to happen. Archie, Betty, and Jughead had already knocked back theirs. Betty did it like a pro, and it really made her so much more appealing to him. _That girl had layers. And not just makeup and clothes._

Archie noticed when Veronica walked by him to sit near Jughead and he noticed when she refused the jingle jangle he offered, choosing instead to sit politely as a bystander. He didn't glance up at her or anyone else, but her proximity in those few seconds did something to him. _Or the drugs_ , he thought. Either way, he suddenly couldn't stand to sit there with them anymore and chose to get up and explore the library a bit. No one looked up as he stood, and Archie started to walk aimlessly towards the foreign language section in the back right. He stopped near the back wall, looking around slowly, his eyes catching on the neck of an acoustic guitar leaning against the wall next to a chair like a student had forgotten it there. Archie stared at the instrument and suddenly felt an overwhelming need to be alone with his thoughts.

Jughead, Betty and Kevin seemed to be in their own little world. Or rather Jughead and Betty were, as Kevin was leaned back in his chair, staring down at the floor like it had asked him on a date and Veronica had turned her gaze to follow Archie, narrowing the further he walked away.

Jughead was staring. It was pretty obvious, since he was not doing anything to hide it, but he was staring at Betty. And not just that, there was a really genuine smile on his face, due to the rather happy look on hers. It was fascinating to him, how she was confidently followed him, sat down and opened her hand to him, taken the jingle jangle from him and without hesitation knocked it back better than his dad on a bender. Her tightly wound façade transformed into a more careful, almost playful smirk and Jughead was completely absorbed and unable to look away. _Almost like showing a second skin_ , he mused.

Betty focused her gaze on Jughead's, leaning back a bit before giving him a once-over, from which he expertly hid his surprise by repositioning the hair outside his beanie. He looked back in him to see her green orbs investigating his Serpent jacket, which she could see since he was leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. _The hot Hitchcock blonde is keeping out my ass_ , he thought cheekily.

"Give me your wallet," Betty announced quietly to Jughead. Off all the things he expected her to say in that moment, that wasn't near the list. Instead, he tilted his head and licked his lips. "You trying to rob me, princess?" he quipped lightly, the tease evident in his tone.

She reached behind her and pulled out a small notebook with a floral print, that looked both well used and well maintained. _Her whole life probably,_ he thought. She shrugged before holding the notebook out to him. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she quipped innocently, lowering her head at him so her gaze was much more prominent and focused on eyes. Jughead's smirk went from self-assured to downright sinful at that, but he simply leaned back on the couch and crossed his arms, not taking the bait. _It would be nice to see the Northsider princess work for it,_ he thought.

She shrugged at his response before pulling back the notebook to her lap, looking down to open it and examining a few pages. "Just thought you'd want to get to know each other better," she said with an air of mischief, "But if you'd rather not learn all my secrets…" she trailed off, chancing a glance his way and feeling satisfied to see a glint of lust in his gaze as he watched her.

Jughead knew Betty Cooper's reputation just like everyone else. But if you had told him she would be all but throwing her diary at him after they did jingle jangle together at school, he would have laughed into the next year. _But here we are._ Without breaking eye contact, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a worn looking black leather wallet and tossed it in her lap. His gaze turned a bit predatory, almost daring her to look, so she closed the notebook and thrust it towards his face, daring him to take it, which he did after a moment's hesitation, still not breaking the intense gaze.

Suddenly, a small thump on the table next to them caused them both to look that way. A small, brown leather wallet had landed on the table and opened when it came in contact with a short stack of reference books in the center. The bright, smiling face of Kevin Keller appeared in front of both Betty and Jughead in wat was clearly his driver's license photo. At the same time, Betty and Jughead turned his heads to look at the sheriff's son, who was looking back at them expectantly, before glancing back at the wallet.

He gestured to the wallet on the table, "You asked for it. Just please don't judge all the club memberships I have Betty, I know organization is your thing and I don't want to impose. Or course if you want any help with planning, like anything, ever I can totally help you. And please don't steal the fifty-dollar bill Jughead, it was in the birthday card from my grandma, and she will be devastated if I don't spend it on a new sweater vest. She has all of mine memorized," Kevin announced as though it was the most important piece of information he had ever given, throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes for good measure.

After a beat of silence, Betty and Jughead turned back to the new possessions in their hands and began to explore them. Kevin simply sat back and watched them with a happy smile on his face.

Betty opened Jughead's wallet, balancing the two sides between her manicured fingers, taking in the bare slots for cards and lack of money in the top pocket. She noticed the picture section was bulging a bit. _A slew of tramps_ , no doubt, she thought a twinge of disappointed predictability to her tone. She was not surprised to learn she was right, slowly flipping each picture to reveal a different girl with different hair in each pic, all clearly giving bedroom eyes to the camera. She paused at the final photo though, a much younger girl present. Maybe twelve, with streaks of bright blue in her hair, a worn Pink Floyd t-shirt that looked like she cut and styled it herself, dark jeans, similar piercing blue eyes and a wide smile. _A female Jughead_ , she realized.

Betty looked over a Jughead, who had his nose buried in her notebook, devouring the content. "This you sister?" she asked lightly, holding up the photo so he could see. Jughead looked up briefly and nodded before returning to the notebook. "Yeah, that's Jellybean."

"Jellybean?!" Betty repeated, her eyes widening and she repeated the name incredulously. "Your name is Jughead and your sister is named Jellybean?" she repeated, just to confirm that's what she heard.

"Oh, what flavor?" Kevin interjected loudly behind them, his eyes lighting up, craning his neck in a failed attempt to see the photo Betty was still showing to Jughead. They both ignored him. He looked away and mumbled, "Now I'm hungry…" more to himself than anyone else.

"It's better than our real names, trust me. And she goes by JB now," Jughead answered in a tone that indicated that was a default response to an often-asked question.

Betty couldn't stifle her laugh and once it left her lips, Jughead finally tore his gaze from her notebook and glanced up at her, pushing his hair from his eyes. "My first name is Elizabeth but I hate it so I go by Betty," she said quickly.

Jughead's blank expression returned to his signature smirk. "Elizabeth Cooper, huh? Betty certainly fits the outfit princess," he finished before returning to his examination of her notebook. Every page was stuffed full from top to down. She had written different activities in different colors. Blue for school assignments. Yellow for school activities and events she was planning. Red for the River Vixens practices and games. Green for family activities. Some pages had added words in pencil, clearly for hastily made plan changes, but even those were clear and concise lines. _Typical OCD freak, he thought._ _If only she was one something, I could probably get it for her._

The only thing that really struck Jughead as odd was the word hair written in black marker in the top right corner of a page. _Girl loves her hair appointments, apparently,_ he mused. But none of the words had times attached and sometimes were written on back to back days and pages.

"What's with your hair?" Jughead asked Betty suddenly. He was still staring at the word on the most recent page he had found it on, two days ago. "What?" Betty replied tightly, as she whipped her head up to look at him, a hint of fear in her eyes. Jughead pointed at the word and showed it to her, waiting for her response. Betty visibly tensed, looking between the word and Jughead, clearly unable to form a response. Jughead was about to inquire as to her quick change in demeanor when music began to fill the library. He looked up towards the sound and saw Archie strumming a guitar, with Veronica leaning on the bookcase next to him, her hands clasped behind her, making her cape flow outward more than usual.

Archie had grabbed the guitar almost on autopilot, letting the familiar feeling of the neck in his hand wash over him. He settling the guitar in his lap as he sat down in the vacant chair. He gently placed his fingers on the neck, closing his eyes and felt his mind calm and his breathing even out. He brought his right hand up to strum the string lightly.

Archie swallowed and opened his eyes, feeling more content than he had all day, at least until he made eye contact with Veronica, who was standing a foot away and leaning against the nearest bookcase. Her dark eyes were fixing him with an inquisitive gaze, her peals slightly obscured from view around her beck by her cape, and her arms were behind her back, so his eyes trailed over her sleek black dress and boots that looked expensive.

"I didn't know you played," she said almost shyly, nodding at the guitar before looking back at him, expectantly, but without harsh judgment. _A creative mind and a hot, athletic body is definitely something a reformed city girl needs in her life._

Archie cleared his throat and looked down at his fingers that had just strummed the strings. "Yeah, a bit, I guess," he replied uneasily with a shoulder shrug. Veronica's eyes narrowed at the shrug.

"A jock of many talents, I see." Veronica quipped with one raised eyebrow and a curious smile. "You want to play me something Hendrix?" she continued, pushing off from the bookcase, squaring her shoulders to Archie, indicating that he had her full attention.

Archie looked up at Veronica through the red locks that had fallen in front of his eyes. He tiled his head to the right with a big shrug. "Nah, I uh, don't really feel like it," he replied, feeling his mind go cloudy at the prospect of an audience as he moved to place the guitar down next to the chair. Veronica's smile fell flat at that, really expecting him to play due to the way his whole body seemed to relax when he handled the instrument. Her eyes widened at him when he kept his gaze steady on the guitar after he placed it down instead of looking up at her. _He's afraid._

Suddenly, Veronica stepped forward, invading Archie's space and forcing him to glance up at her sharply to avoid looking at her boots of getting whipped by the low edges of her cape. Archie gulped at her proximity, his eyes hesitant, his gaze expectant on hers. Veronica's eyes were wide open, searching his. Veronica leaned in even closer to him and asked, "Who are you under that jacket? What are you?" Her hands gesturing to his jacket covered shoulders as she gave him a once over. Her eyes came back up to hers and they were softer, filled with curiosity and understanding.

"Why do you care?" Archie stood and growled back practically in her face, reaching his breaking point with her ability to get right to the heart of his issues. Her eyes were peering into the depths of his soul, stripping him bare and she'd been doing it all day. Acting all unimpressed and bored, but watching him intensely from the moment she sat down this morning to anytime they got up. She was watching him be bored, he could feel the glances at his back, she had watched him fall and get up in the equipment room, and she watched him find and play the guitar. _She was always watching him._ Archie had enough people watching him, he didn't need another. But her gaze seemed different. It took no effort for her to see right through him but yet he couldn't even begin to figure her out.

Veronica gave him an unimpressed look and simply said, "Because you don't know the answer. You can't give me an answer," she continued, her features softening again in a small show of understanding which lacked any trace of pity. "At least not an honest one."

Archie was briefly stunned, his eyes searching her dark orbs for any hint of deception. This mysterious girl nobody noticed, only gossiped about because of her father's shady business dealings and arrest, had managed to reach out and understand him with a simple question. _A question he didn't even fully understand._

He watched her warily as Veronica stepped a tad closer and laid her manicured hands on his shoulders in a comforting, but firm and earnest way. "Stop doing what everyone expects you to do, and just do what _you_ want. Make yourself happy." She gave his shoulders a soft squeeze, as he opened his mouth to respond, but was completely stunned into silence by her beauty. He noticed her of course, but with Veronica his close to him, Archie really saw her beauty. Underneath all of her designer clothes and bags was a striking raven-haired beauty with opaque orbs that held shining stars of wonder and Archie felt himself get lost in them.

Then she lifted her head, turned on her heel and stalked off back to her seat, pausing briefly to turn back and say, "Oh, and stop shrugging your shoulders as an answer to everything. It's a dead giveaway that you have no idea." From her tone, it was apparent that her unbothered façade was back, but Archie had seen the truth. Veronica understood his inner turmoil and his eyes widened at the idea that she had some as well. Archie watched as her hair flowed gracefully down her back, her posture perfect and her presence intimidating even when she was distancing herself. He kept his gaze on her long after she was seated and she never turned to look at him again. _Now I'm watching her_ , he realized. _I wonder what her singing voice is like._


	9. The Group Bonding Scene

"When you grow up, your heart dies."—Allison

Betty was starting to feel boredom set in again. She was sitting on the floor near the back of the library, her back against a short bookshelf, her long legs stretched straight out in front of her, crossed at the ankles. She fiddled with the edges of her skirt with her fingers, trying not to appear nervous sitting so close to everyone.

She glanced around and saw the same feeling creeping into each of her fellow detention mates. They were all sitting in a circle on the floor, Kevin to her immediate left, Archie to his left, Veronica next to him, and Jughead next to her, sitting almost opposite Betty and facing her. Guess the drugs are wearing off, she figured.

Kevin made no attempt to stifle a big yawn, not bothering to cover his mouth. Since they had gathered in this unexpected but not unwanted circle on the aging carpet in the back of the library, the conversation had been sparse. Everyone seemed to just be shooting each other long glances, Betty and Jughead, Veronica and Archie. He almost felt like a fifth wheel, but honestly, the tension was so obvious he knew he was in for a real gossip show. If them being on drugs is any indication, they better step their game up.

Archie was staring intently at the blue carpet, his hands gripping the edges of his letterman jacket. He was sitting on the floor in between Veronica and Kevin, with Jughead and Betty across from him facing each other. He vaguely remembered Betty and Jughead settling on the floor with Kevin following. He remembered walking over to join them in the hopes of saving himself from his own thoughts. He definitely remembered Veronica getting up from her seat and joining them, not because he heard her, but because he felt her presence to his left when she sat down.

Veronica was sitting with her knees bent and her ankles crossed to her right, her left arm firm on the carpet for balance. She was leaned forward, her hood almost covering her face from view as she stared down at the carpet as well, or at least that's what it looked like to everyone else. This gave her a perfect excuse to give an excellent side eye to Archie, whose gaze was focused on the carpet in front of him.

Jughead was definitely not bored. He had settled on the floor and watched as Betty carefully examined a row of books in front of him. He could feel the jingle jangle waring off, but just watching Betty was enough of a high. Just being this close is more than enough.

"Okay, would you rather have no TV for a year, or only be able to watch the home shopping network?" Archie asked Betty, in an attempt to stave off boredom.

"Um, home shopping network," Betty quipped back astutely with an affirmative head nod. "Yea me too," Archie replied, "At least it's TV you know?" shrugging a bit before he realized he was doing it. I need to chill with that. They'd been playing this game for a good twenty minutes when it was really just a distraction from the issues that were all dealing with. Might as well go first.

"You guys know what I did to get in here?" Archie inquired in a low voice, glancing around at them. Betty and Kevin quickly shook their heads and Archie took a breath before continuing. "I got into a fist fight with Reggie before football practice." Betty gaped at him. "Wait, you gave him that black eye?" Betty inquired, pointing her finger at him while she arched an eyebrow in surprise. Veronica seemed to suppress an eye roll, Jughead smirked and Kevin's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Yea, it was me," Archie continued, wringing his hands together in front of him. "You see, a couple weeks ago, Coach Clayton made it clear that both me and Reggie were up for Captain, which is a huge responsibility and honor. My dad was so excited when I told him, even though I knew it meant less time to work for him at the construction site." Archie paused to glance around, noticing that while Betty and Kevin were riveted, Jughead and Veronica appeared to not even be listening or not looking at him at least.

Archie sighed before continuing, "But the truth is I wasn't stoked. Football used to be the most important thing to me, but that changed this summer. I found music," Archie revealed, to the obvious confusion of Betty, Kevin, Jughead, and Veronica. "Good. There is more music in the world than sing along albums, Archie," Betty teased with a big eye roll.

Archie's brow furrowed as he took the hit to his pride. "No, I mean I make music, Betty. I write my own songs. I found this guitar when my dad and I were cleaning out the garage…and I just couldn't put it down," he explained, relieved to finally tell someone his secret. Betty appeared to accept that he was serious and he continued. "I write my own music on that guitar and I love it," Archie said with a smile, "I pick it up and get so lost in the music I lose all track of time. Once I started working on this one song after dinner, and when I finished it I looked up and it was dawn." Veronica seemed very intrigued by his story, shuffling a bit closer to him and pulling her hood back to get a proper look at his face, his mask of uncertainty finally fading away.

"I love it. It makes me happy. My head is just bursting with ideas and songs all the time I can barely concentrate on anything else." He hesitated then, unsure how much to reveal, his indecisiveness rearing his ugly head, but he was determined to push through. "I started skipping football practice to write," Archie revealed. Betty gasped loudly, shocked that Archie would jeopardize his football career like that and Kevin looked like he was stifling a laugh at how seriously Archie took skipping practice. Considering how my Dad played and he still swings by the practices I can understand that though. Boys and their sports, he thought with a deep sigh.

"But football has been all I've known for so long and music is a big unknown. I mean, people rarely make it in music and I'm on track for a football scholarship," Archie sighed running his fingers through his thick hair, the doubt creeping onto his face. "I just don't want to disappoint my everyone. My dad, the team, coach…it's just a lot." Archie finished rather uncertainly, wringing his hands together to quell his nerves.

Wow, I had no idea," Betty replied, not expecting this news from the boy across the street she had watched from afar for so long. No wonder his light is always on all night. "What kind of songs do you write?" she asked curiously, flashing him a huge smile, leaning forward to illuminate her clear interest. It made Jughead's blood boil and even Veronica and Kevin's expressions seemed to indicate she was being far too obvious with her interest.

"Sappy love ballads, no doubt," quipped Jughead with a smirk. Got to get Betty's panties to drop somehow and clearly, his looks aren't doing it!" Betty's gaze ripped from Archie's to send Jughead a scathing glower. "You're such a prick, Jughead!" Archie screamed at him. "Would you just keep your mouth shut! No one wants you here, and it's not like you could ever have enough talent at anything to care about anything but your stupid jacket," Archie sneered, jerking himself forward to challenge Jughead.

"Would you shut your Goddamn mouth about the Serpents?! You don't know what this jacket means, Archie," Jughead said through gritted teeth harshly. "If you did, you'd be showing me the respect I deserve, the loyalty and honor it brings," Jughead finished smirking venomously at Archie.

Kevin felt like he was watching a tennis match, his head whipping between the two boys, worrying growing on his face. I wish there was popcorn though, he mused. Veronica was covertly glancing at Jughead, examining the way his eyes lit with rage at Archie words, his nostrils flaring out and his beanie moving back a bit to reveal wild locks of dark hair.

"Loyalty and honor?" Archie scoffed visibly, "Don't be stupid, Jug. You're a thug and I could take you any day. Wearing a letterman jacket and playing guitar doesn't make me less of a man," Archie threw at Jughead, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest in a show of power, a proud smirk on his lips.

Jughead quickly tamed, the fight slithering out of his features, a wide smirk gracing his lips. "Maybe not," he mused a bit to himself, "But not getting into Cooper's panties definitely doesn't make you a man," he sneered with a pointed look to Archie, before giving Betty an obvious head to toe once over that made her visibly pull away from him.

In a flash of blue and yellow, Archie was across the circle and reaching for Jughead's jacket to secure a better punch to the face. In his cloud of rage, Archie failed to watch Jughead's hands, too focused on his eyes roaming over Betty. Archie stopped dead when he felt a cold piece of metal against his jugular. Glancing down he could see the bottom of the steel blade of Jughead's switchblade against his neck, and swallowed hesitantly.

The fire was back in Jughead's eyes, giving Archie a furious look of triumph and pride. "So you are all talk and no action, then. Good to know," Jughead sneered, leaning in closer so their faces were inches apart. "You remember this moment, Archie. This is the moment you crossed a snake for the last time," Jughead nearly spat in Archie's fearful gaze, the jock clearly certain that Jughead would actually hurt him. "What shall you're punishment be? And end to that football career so seem to not care about anymore?" Jughead said, reaching up to grip Archie's yellow leather covered shoulder tightly, able to dislocate it easily with Archie on his knees and at Jughead's mercy.

Archie had lunged at Jughead and thrown all his weight behind the move, with no easy way to get out of his current state. Kevin had fallen to the right in an attempt to get farther away from the fray, a horrified gasp frozen on his features, his hands clutching his heart as though he may not survive this spectacle.

Veronica had jerked back a bit in surprise at Archie sudden movement, surprised by the rashness of the action. Although, they nearly jumped each other earlier. These neanderthals never learn, she mused, shooting a slightly wary look towards the two boys, Jughead clearly in control.

In Jughead's attempt to frighten Archie, he took his gaze completely off Betty, so her next move was a total surprise. Suddenly, Archie was pushed to the side and Jughead's hand gripping his jacket faltered and the knife moved further away from Archie's neck at the jostle. And suddenly it was inches from a pretty, pastel shirt and a white, creamy neck that Jughead fleetingly thought would look hauntingly beautiful but tragic if it was stained with red blood.

The angered gaze of Betty Cooper suddenly appeared in front of him, as Archie slumped a bit in another attempt to get away. No angered was the right word. Betty looked murderous, her calm demeanor as she leaned forward slowly, getting right in Jughead's face, allowing the cool metal of the blade to press against her skin just above her collarbone, since Jughead had lowered it a bit as she advanced on him. Her green eyes were cold as ice, her red lips seemed filled with venom and she lowered her head and moved closer to him on her knees like a practiced show of power.

"Let him go," Betty said, her words flinging out in a calm but lethal manner, her teeth gritted and her tone sharp and threatening. Jughead couldn't decide if he was more impressed or turned on by the pretty princesses attempt to challenge him. Probably both.

Jughead gazed deep into Betty's green orbs, his smirk heavy on his lips. His unwillingness to give the control she clearly craved to her. It was like a switch had been flicked in her and she went from the proper princess to this lethal control freak in a heartbeat. And he wanted to know more. "Or what princess?" Jughead whispered, his smirk widening, his eyes narrowing as he visibly watched her get more worked up at his response.

Betty straightened her spine and clenched her jaw, her eyes wide with rage. Like a serpent preparing to strike, Jughead thought. Princess is showing her true skin. "Or. I. Will. Kill. You." Betty responded, making a point to emphasize each word, her gaze continuing to penetrate his soul.

"Stop it!" Kevin yelled, "Just stop it! Stop with the violence all of you, please!" His sudden outburst had effectively diffused the tense situation between Archie, Betty and Jughead, who along with Veronica were now staring at Kevin with equal looks of confusion and surprise. Archie scrambled away back to his spot, Betty moved back and turned to face Kevin, still sitting to Jughead's left but much closer. Jughead lowered the knife and watched Kevin carefully.

Betty, Archie and Jughead were so caught up in their moment, that they all missed Kevin's response. But Veronica didn't. She was more than intrigued by Betty's attempt to insert herself into the situation and take control. Betty Cooper. The bad bitch of Riverdale. She felt that Jughead wouldn't actually hurt her, since Archie was his target, plus he took the fall for their little field trip. Kevin she expected to be horrified by the display, which was on par with his reactions to most of the day. But to her surprise, he was frowning at them. At least until He saw the knife at Betty s neck, then he looked away all together.

Kevin had thrust his hands out in front of him while he shouted and in the immense silence that followed his face turned quickly from anger to anguish. His confidence vanished instantly and he lowered his head into his hands as he felt tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He took a few long, shuddering breaths to calm himself, but the anger seemed to be building up just as strong in his chest.

"Do you know why I'm here?" he asked loudly, his voice muffled through his hands. Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Archie all glanced at each other with various levels of incredulous expressions on their faces. "Why are you here," Veronica asked lowly, daring to speak the unasked question, her voice tentative and soft.

Kevin sniffled a little, wiped his nose with the back of his hand and lowered his hands so they were clasped together tightly, his elbows balancing on his knees as he stared intently at the carpet. With a final deep breath, Kevin explained, "I'm here because Coach Clayton found a gun in my backpack."

Here was a beat of deathly silence before Betty suddenly turned and shuffled her body to face Kevin, leaning her knees on the carpet and hugged herself tightly. Veronica was frozen with shock, her mouth dropping open as she stared at Kevin with fear in her gaze. Upon hearing the word gun, Archie had whipped his head around to stare at the boy a few feet away, before looking around at the others almost to ensure he had heard Kevin right. Jughead was the only one who failed to move. Jughead kept completely still, only moving his gaze to Kevin slowly after the others had reacted.

"What? Why did you bring a gun to school?" Archie asked sternly. Kevin didn't answer immediately, wiping a few tears away before he nearly whispered, "It doesn't matter."

"Hey, you brought it up man," Archie continued turning to face Kevin and trying to catch his eye. After a few moments Kevin picked his head up just enough to return Archie's gaze." He swallowed thickly, his eyes tight and focused with a hint of rage.

"You know those other guys on the Bulldogs? The ones you call your friends? I brought the gun to school because of them." Kevin replied, his voice cracking with anger at Archie absolutely stunned face. "I needed it to protect myself from them." Kevin finished, nearly spitting at Archie with venom in his voice. Across from him Betty gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

"I'm gay!" Kevin nearly screamed at the others, glancing around and staring each of them in the face. 'I'm gay and I like to make out with other guys," he continued, a tone of confidence dripping from his voice. "And one of those guys happens to be a bulldog," he sneered in Archie's direction, who had the presence of him to look away under Kevin's intense scrutiny.

Veronica's eyebrows lifted visibly at Kevin's confession, her eyes shifting from fear to surprise. Betty's swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, her shoulders eased a bit of tension as she glanced between him and Archie. She always had her suspicions, but it was never something she would ask him directly.

Jughead shut his eyes quickly, waiting for the figurative bomb that was about to drop. He was bullied. The knife he has covertly placed back in his jacket suddenly felt heavier than usual.

"And the other day I pushed that guy up against the wall in the boys' locker room and kissed the hell out of me. It was great," Kevin revealed, his eyes widening a bit, his face morphing into a look of something good that he had suddenly become ashamed of. "Or it was until Reggie walked in and caught us. Then all he could do was push me to the ground and call me a fag as he and Reggie kicked me over and over…" he trailed off, his throat closing up at the memory, fresh tears falling from his eyes.

Betty felt tears pooling in her eyes at Kevin's admission, her face filled with horror that something like that had occurred in Riverdale High with students that she knew. That she considered friends. Veronica closed her mouth and pursed her lips, fury piling up behind her eyes as she imagined the scenario in her head. Jughead remained silent but opened his eyes to look at the carpet in front of him, swallowing visibly and waiting almost impatiently for the rest of the story. Archie just looked stricken. There was no other word for it, he just looked stricken.

Kevin gasped for breath, wiping his eyes once for and staring at the carpet to his left. "When they finally stopped, Reggie told me if he ever caught me near Moose or another member of the football team again he would kill me." Kevin voice broke and he struggled to continue. After another beat, he straightened his posture and finished, "I knew we all had gym together first period so I knew I needed to protect myself. So, I went into my dad's gun safe and I got a BB gun and put in it in backpack. Reggie isn't worth going to jail, but I figured it I had to I could get in him the arm and call it self-defense if it came to that." Kevin looked back up at Archie, his voice eerily steady, his demeanor eluding his complete conviction of his words.

Betty was stunned, her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally said in a low voice, "Kevin, there are other options. You didn't need to bring a gun to school, you could've hurt someone-"

"Well I didn't do that, did I?" Kevin interrupted, yelling at Betty. He took a breath at her hurt expression. "You would have heard about it. I'm sure it would have made a great headline for the Blue and Gold," Kevin threw back as she cowered a bit. "Thank you Captain Obvious…" he trailed off, throwing up his hands.

"Reggie and some other bulldogs cornered me when I walked up to the school entrance near the football field bleachers. Said he didn't think I learned my lesson. I saw them circling me in, so I reached for the gun and pointed it right in Reggie's face. Told him to back off." Kevin hesitated a second, glancing away suddenly, not able to look any of them in the eye. "That's when the fire alarm went off."

Suddenly everyone's eyes but Kevin's were on Jughead. "That was you?" Archie asked lowly, a hint of skepticism in his voice. Jughead kept his stare on the ground, not looking up or making any indication that he had heard Archie. "You hang out under the bleachers. You would have seen that, Jug."

"I guess you answered your own question then, didn't you Arch." Jughead replied with a sigh, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Across from him Betty had shifted her horrified look to Kevin for a completely shocked and open stare at Jughead. She swallowed and stared at him with surprise, and respect, like she was seeing him in a whole new light. He saved Kevin. He's a gang member and he stopped violence instead of joining in.

"Kevin…" Archie trailed off, seeming to struggle openly with his words. "I'm so sorry, man. I had no idea about Reggie." Kevin closed his eyes and sniffled loudly. "Maybe if I'd paid more attention and happened skipped practices…it was selfish-"

"Seriously, Archie. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem. Besides, it seems you at least got some good hits in. Messed up at that model worthy face of his." Kevin interrupted, making eye contact with Archie, whose tension seemed to deflate a bit at Kevin's words. Silence fell among the group, no one sure how to follow that, until a minute later when the atmosphere proved too tense for Veronica.

"I don't actually have detention," Veronica announced in a low tone, her voice shy. She braced for the impact of her words to hit and she was not disappointed.

"What?!" Betty, Archie, and Kevin all but yelled at the same time. Jughead turned his head quickly to glare at her in surprise, his eyes narrowing with the suspicion that she was lying to change the atmosphere in the space.

Veronica reached up to grab her pearls lightly and cleared her throat. "I don't have detention. I was the more affluent Cheryl Blossom of my school. A real nightmare Barbie. I used to cheat my way through school back in the city." Veronica paused briefly, not used to showing her vulnerability at all, let alone to people she barely knew. Archie was looking at her with an inquisitive curiosity, but she saw no anger. Betty's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at Veronica's Cheryl description and even Jughead seemed to be listening. Kevin looked impressed at her admission, shaking his head a bit and muttering "iconic" under his breath.

"But after my dad went to prison, my life fell apart. I lost all my friends and we moved here to get away from all the attention. I went from gracing the gossip rags with my epic parties to ducking paparazzi's thrusting my dad's mugshot in my face and calling me a criminal by blood." Jughead scoffed at that, getting everyone's attention, but Veronica chose to ignore him. Archie's eyes were glued to Veronica's face, almost anticipating her words.

"I decided when we moved here that it would be a fresh start. New school, new people, even though everyone pretty much made up their minds the moment I rolled into town. No one wanted to be associated with a Lodge." She continued, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "So what, you hide out at school when no one is here?" Betty asked lightly, not understanding Veronica's point.

She sighed deeply, choosing to swallow the annoyance at Betty's ignorance for being an outcast. If only she knew. "I have always had everything handed to me, Betty. So when I moved here I decided to try. Make an effort. As it turns out, I'm really good at cheating to get good grades but not great at actually getting them. So, I come here to catch up on my learning and just…do better." She finished with a bit of suspenseful flare, bringing her head up to look at Betty, her hood falling a bit down her back. She was a Lodge after all.

Betty seemed truly taken aback by Veronica's admission. She expected the mysterious girl to keep her intimidating façade, playing mind games and acting aloof, like a new version of Cheryl breezing into town to shake things up. This is unexpected.

"So, you just come here because you want to?" Archie asked carefully, his eyes narrowing at her, not sure if he heard her correctly. "Yes, Archie. I'm here because I want to me. To be better. To be who I am and who I want to be," Veronica answered honestly. "Is that really so difficult to believe?" She asked, tilting her head at him in question.

"I think that's really great Veronica," Kevin quipped, with an approving head nod and a nice smile. Archie remained silent, his eyes not leaving Veronica's but going soft because he believed her words. "Yeah, well now that I know I can have a new GBF, Kevin, my studies are most definitely going to suffer," Veronica stated with a pointed look and a really happy tone. "I mean, we are going to be spending night and day together gossiping about guys. You are going to get sick of me. You up for that Keller?" she teased, flashing him a hopeful grin and a wink. Kevin faced morphed into complete surprise before he chuckled. "It's a deal," Kevin replied almost eagerly.


	10. The Dance Scene

"Could you describe the ruckus, sir?"—Brian

With the tension diffused, the group seemed to fall into a silent but much more relaxed and comfortable atmosphere. "Okay, that's it. We need some fun, ASAP," Jughead suddenly announced, getting up from the floor, and clapping his hands together lightly. He hopped over a table and made a beeline for a section of albums in the library that students could check out. The other four just sat on the floor and watched him, as Jughead looked through the selection lazily, flicking his index finger over a group of records before pausing for a few moments and reaching in to pluck one album from the fray with ease, not even disturbing the other albums nearby.

Jughead briefly examined the cover, running his free gloved hand over it to clear some dust away. Staring back at him was the face of a young woman on the cover with big, brunette, curly hair who was flashing a wide smile, all set on a white background. Cute, he mused, already deciding that his first choice would be his best from his sad pile of records and moved to the record player to set the music on.

As Jughead walked over to the record player on a stand next to the librarian's office, Betty, Veronica and Kevin all got up from the floor and moved closer to see what was happening. Archie, who had been watching Jughead select the record, knew Jughead was going to play that loud and he hoped it was good music. Archie got up quickly and walked over towards the rest of the group, just as Betty broke the silence.

"What is this?" Betty inquired lightly, gesturing her hand over the record player and the album, which she picked up and examined. Jughead appeared to ignore her as she reached for the sound dial and made an adjustment. An upbeat, synth-heavy bop began to emanate from the speaker underneath the record player. Betty turned the album cover over and read the title and artist out loud to the group. "We Are Not Alone," by Kara DeVito was the name of the song, and judging by the lack of reaction, none of them had heard of it.

Jughead was running his hands through his hair, careful not to knock off his beanie as he finally stopped adjusting the dials. Kevin seemed mildly impressed by the song choice, his head and foot bopping along to the beat. Veronica tilted her head and looked upwards, as though trying to place the song or just decide if she liked it. Archie remained silent, taking in the beat and the sound production. It was a catchy tune and the booming, rather deep voice of the singer made him happy with the song selection.

"This is a bop," quipped Veronica as she looked to Kevin for a hint of agreement, the surprise that she liked the song evident in her voice. "Totally," came Kevin's response, as he got more into the beat and shuffled his feet in an attempt to dance. He was only encouraged when Veronica joined in and they moved a bit towards the center of the library for more room. Archie remained standing near the speaker, not really moving and just letting the chords and lyrics of the song drift through his ears and be absorbed by his brain. He was only jilted from this momentarily when both Jughead and Betty almost spontaneously broke out dancing at the same time and followed Kevin and Veronica to avoid bumping into stuff. For the next three minutes, Archie felt his mind go into overdrive as he absorbed every aspect of the song. The way it reverberated around the room, the increased tempo at the bridge, the lyrically clever second chorus. "It sounds kind of 80s," he muttered to himself, not realizing it said it out loud at first, he was too lost in the moment.

Behind him, Betty and Jughead were dancing wildly as though it was the last thing they would ever do. Betty's hair whipped around as she danced in a circle with her hands thrown up over her head. Her blonde hair strands loosening from her ponytail and her cardigan bunching up as she kicked her feet to the beat, getting completely lost in the music. Jughead was doing some form of headbanging, while his beanie managed to miraculously stay on his head, his serpent jacket flying open as he spun around and tried not to trip on his boots. Kevin has bopped his head and tapping the top of a nearby bookshelf to the beat, throwing his head back periodically to glance up at the ceiling. Veronica was staring straight ahead as she shuffled her feet and moved across the carpet in a boot customized moonwalk.

They were all in their own little worlds, which suddenly came to a halt as the music faded down to nothing. After a beat of silence, Betty quickly fixed her cardigan and hair, suddenly self-conscious at her appearance now that the music had faded. Jughead caught the quick look of surprise that crossed her face at her own actions before he moved back towards the albums.

"Let's see what else we've got," he stated loudly, moving his hand up over the selection to pick at random again. Kevin and Veronica had also stopped dancing and were watching Jughead prepare to make another selection. Betty continued fixing her appearance and didn't stop until Archie spoke up.

"I've got something," Archie announced loudly, temporarily surprised by the confidence in his tone. He turned to look at Jughead, who flashed him a quick look of surprise, before dropping his hands and shrugging. "Let's hear what the football players are into these days," he quipped back toward the others, looking over his shoulder with a smirk at them before looking back to Archie.

"Actually…" Archie trailed off, suddenly hit with the impact of what he was about to do. He looked back at Betty, then Veronica and Kevin and back to Jughead, who were all waiting with various levels of expectancy on their faces. He let out a breath and said, "It's a song I wrote."

Jughead raised his eyebrow at that, before looking at the others, watching for any sign of an objection. "The floor is yours, I guess," he quipped, clapping his hands together. "Now please entertain your adoring fans," he said sardonically, moving to a bookcase and jumping up to sit on top of it. Archie looked back at the others, seeing surprise and delight on Betty's face as she looked away to go join Jughead on the bookcase. Kevin looked happy and followed Betty without a word. Archie swallowed when he looked to Veronica, who stood still as a statue, her eyes filled with warmth and compassion. He saw no pity, amusement or even surprise, which stumped him. Instead, he just watched as she walked towards him slowly until they were inches apart, never breaking the understanding stare. "Good luck," she stated lightly and with complete sincerity, before turning on her heel and joining the others on the bookcase. Archie watched her go and took a deep breath as she got settled and the others were quiet.

Removing his letterman jacket and tossing it on a nearby table, Archie walked to the back of the library quickly, his feet on the carpet the only sound in the open space. He grabbed the guitar firmly in one hand, and returned to the center of the room, choosing to sit on a table directly across from the group. Archie carefully placed the guitar in his lap and concentrated on tuning the strings to adjust the sound. His head bent over the neck as he adjusted the strings, his red hair falling on his face but he made no move to brush it back. Once he was finished, he looked back up at the group who were waiting in silence for him to play.

In that moment, with all those eyes on him, Archie felt all his insecurities rush into his mind and he blinked several times to quell the fear that suddenly flowed through his veins. Overcome with emotion, Archie clamped his eyes shut and tried to take some deep breaths. He tried to focus on the feeling on the guitar in his hands, how comfortable it felt, how the music could clear his mind. It couldn't provide courage in this moment though, he mused. Archie took a final deep breath and opened his eyes to fixate on Veronica. As his eyes meet her penetrating gaze, he was reminded of her words from earlier, and her story about being who you want to be. Her eyes still held that gaze of warmth and compassion, and he felt it spread through his soul.

If taking drugs didn't give him the courage to play, he would just have to get it from her.

Finally breaking the gaze, Archie adjusted his stance, took another breath and strummed the familiar notes of the first song he ever composed.

Can you hear me?

Am I drowning out in the crowd

Are you listening? Or is everyone else too loud

for you to hear anything?

Are you just going to walk away?

Cause there are so many things

I can do but instead I'll say

I'll try

I'll try to let it go

Let it roll right off my shoulders

Yes I 'll try

I'll try to let it go

If anyone ever looked back

I'll try

I'll try

I'll try not to look back this way

Back this way

I'll try

I'll try to let go

Let go and never look back this way

As Archie's fingers played the final notes of the song, he opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them. Archie looked down at the carpet, before slowly raising his eyes to look intently at the bookshelf where the others sat. He waited for the nerves to invade his mind again but found that instead, he felt lighter somehow, like a weight had been lifted off his body and he could finally breathe again.

"So…what do you think?" Archie asked timidly, gripping the guitar neck tightly, not making eye contact with the others. Betty, Veronica and Kevin looked at him in awe, like they weren't quite sure what they just witnessed and glanced between themselves for a reaction. Jughead looked bored, but he was internally surprised with his former friends' talent for music. Then again, our dads were in a band together.

"It's a little sappy for me sporto," Jughead replied glancing up at the clock, adjusting his beanie and serpent jacket, getting up from his seat and glancing at Betty briefly before sauntering to the back of the library. He climbed up on the low bookcase and worked his way back into the wall to return to the Blue and Gold office to finish the rest of his sentence, the others watching him go in silence.

"It's really good, Archie," Betty answered, the wonder evident in her voice, her eyes glinting with happiness and surprise at his raw talent for music. Kevin nodded as well and clapped furiously to show his appreciation. Veronica walked over to Archie, who still looked skeptical.

She stopped just in front of him, looking at him with a penetrating but soft gaze, one hand reaching out to lazily stroke the guitar base, her fingers running slowly against it towards the neck. "You ever want to do a duet, just let me know," Veronica stated confidently, her lips breaking into a wide smile that matched the one on his face at her words. Archie swallowed and nodded his head briefly, looking down at the guitar when he felt her hand graze his before retreating back down the neck of the guitar. When he looked back up, Veronica had her gaze focused on the strings of the guitar, a shy smile on her lips.

The moment was broken, however, when Betty came to stand next to Veronica, and Archie braced himself for the onslaught of questions he expected from the budding investigative journalist before him. "Was that the first song you've written?" Betty inquired in a light tone, staring at Archie a little dumbfounded like he was a secret celebrity who had managed to escape her grasp. "What's your inspiration for your music?" Betty continued, her words nearly exploding out of her mouth as her voice accelerated in the hopes of getting all her thoughts out quicker.

Betty shook her head as to clear her thoughts, her ponytail whipping back and forth and distracting Archie a bit as he tried to keep up with her. "And who else knows about this?" Betty continued, suddenly suspicious that he hadn't confided in her. Veronica, who had silently watched his exchange, heaved a sigh and a wicked side glance to the expectant blonde, before looking to Archie who was staring back at Veronica, a bit of a helpless look on his face.

Veronica winked at Archie before turning to face Betty, placing a delicate hand on her cardigan covered shoulder. "B, why don't we let music man here breath," she stated slowly, gesturing to Archie as Betty looked back and forth between the two of them. Betty hesitated a second, staring at Veronica a bit confused, her eyebrows furrowing as her sudden statement, but before she could respond, Archie jumped in.

"Yeah, I was really expecting to tell you guys about my music, Betty," Archie revealed, his tone insisting a reluctant secret had been revealed he wasn't necessarily ready to defend. "Maybe give me some time to think about the answers? I know you want to know everything but even sharing that song with you guys was a lot for me," Archie finished, the honesty of his voice hitting both Betty and Veronica with a wave of respect for Archie's vulnerability.

Betty offered Archie a comforting smile, tilting her head to the right slightly, before clasping her hands out in front of her. "Of course, Archie. I totally understand. It's your music after all, but I'm here if you want someone to listen," Betty finished, placing her hands on her heart. Archie missed that, however, since he was too busy catching Veronica's eyes at Betty's suggestion of wanting someone to listen.

"Yeah, I know Betty. Thanks," Archie said almost under his breath glancing back to her quickly before looking to Veronica again, as Betty turned to look at Veronica too. Veronica felt a wave of pride looking into Archie's eyes, the implication that he wanted her to hear his music made her heart warm. She was suddenly hit with a desire to hear everything Archie had ever written, where he wrote his music and so much more. Guess I can see where Nancy Drew over there gets it, she thought. Veronica has serious at the duet too. She had a singing voice, but bearing her soul and her truth to the group about her motivations had drained her, and she needed a refuel before any more heavy, soul-bearing, life-altering facts were released.

A part of her was excited about Archie's reaction to knowing she could sing. Veronica had no doubt that the matchup of her voice with his and those lyrics would sizzle, but she was thrilled by the unexpected idea of letting him discover that secret in the moment, maybe while he strummed the guitar and she just freestyled what she was feeling. And that duet would be Grammy award-winning. Eat your heart out, Stevie Nicks.

Archie and Veronica were still locked in their contemplative gaze when Betty's voice broke out with "Come on Veronica, let's give Archie some time to be a brooding artist, while we go have some girl time to ourselves…" Betty trailed off a bit suggestively, making Veronica glance her way. Betty's eyes were glowing with excitement and sincerity. Veronica looked back to Archie, who simply shrugged a bit at her, a teasing smile on his lips at the private joke, before looking down and focusing on strumming the guitar as though the girls had already left.

Veronica suppressed the small laugh that bubbled in her throat and looked back at Betty. "Lead the way," she said rather dramatically, her eyes filled with curiosity and happiness and the blonde's lips broke out into a huge smile and Betty leaned forward quickly to grasp Veronica's hand. Suddenly Veronica has being pulled away from Archie and into a small office, the door shutting quietly behind them, Betty silently controlling where they sat and organizing the foreign room a bit so they could get comfortable.

After Archie's song had finished, Kevin had remained sitting but lost in his own thoughts, so he missed the entire conversation between Archie, Betty, and Veronica. It wasn't until Archie began playing the guitar again they Kevin snapped out of it and released they were alone in the library. He slowly got up and walked back over to his chair, his mind swimming with all the new information that had been gathered in the past few minutes. As he placed his arms down on the table in front of him, the idea of how to capture this information and process it suddenly popped in his mind. He reached his left hand into his backpack and pulled out a fresh piece of paper and a pencil, leaned his head down close, and got to work with a delighted smile on his face.

Veronica and Betty had locked themselves away in the librarians' office, intent on some girl time, and Veronica couldn't have predicted what happened next, but it was a Saturday of revelations. Veronica had whipped open her purse to freshen her makeup and produced quite an array of makeup options, while Betty continued to organize the room in a haze, as though she was needing a distraction. Veronica heard the silence of Betty stopping the moving of papers from the desk and looked over at her. Betty was staring almost transfixed at Veronica's compact, her eyes a bit wide and unsure. "What's your color?" Veronica quipped lightly, looking into the mirror of her compact to check her hair.

"Nothing you have," Betty said in a rush, Veronica looking up at the sharp tone in her voice with a frown. At Veronica's expression, Betty quickly explained. "Oh no, I just don't have-I mean, those aren't my colors…or the colors I wear-Well, actually-"Betty stated shortly when she saw Veronica press her lips together and raise her eyebrows. Why is this so difficult? I usually have no problem being in control. Betty reached her hands up to her forehead near her hairline and made fists, before spreading her fingers into the smooth lines of her hair, and letting out a sigh.

Veronica stood slowly as she watched Betty, holding out her left hand, in a clear gesture of friendship and understanding. Betty dropped one hand to meet Veronica's and allowed the dark-haired girl to lead her over by the window where Veronica sat. "Let's find out, shall we?" Veronica said airily, leaning in a bit towards Betty with a pointed but playful look as she gestured over the makeup options on the desk beside them.

Betty swallowed and couldn't help the relieved smile that appeared on her lips. She let out a small breath, gazed back at Veronica with a pleading look and said, "Yes. Please, girl I need this. If I have to put another coat of pink blush on my cheeks right now I will scream." Veronica nodded compliantly and said, "Got it. Let's start with…" Veronica trailed off, looking over the various colors with a laser focus, like searching for water in the desert. "Ah! Yes. This one will do," she announced with a wide grin, her right hand fingering a small palette of what looked like dark green eyeshadow. Veronica examined the label before biting back a grin and thrusting the plastic square towards Betty. "Name seems appropriate don't you think?" Veronica revealed suggestively, a knowing smirk on her lips.

Betty took the palette from her hesitantly. Oh God, what did I get myself into? She looked briefly at the shade of green before her. It was dark and looked almost ethereal in a way like it might shine if the light hit it right. She turned the square over and raked her green eyes over the small gold words on the back. Snake eyes. Of course. Betty expected to feel embarrassed by Veronica's obvious insinuation, but instead, all Betty felt was excitement for something new and different. Something wild.

Betty grinned before handing the palette back to Veronica. "Show me what you got, Lodge," Betty teased confidently, leveling Veronica with a meaningful but happy challenge. With pleasure, Veronica mused, plucking the makeup from Betty's fingers and opening it to get to work. "Famous last words," Veronica quipped to Betty, as the pair settled into easy smiles, the tension leaving both of them as the drama of the day and expectations of who they were faded away around them and they were just two teenagers enjoying a good makeover. Goodbye Betty Cooper, Riverdale's own Betty Draper in training. Hello Sandy Olsson, Veronica mused lightly, a determined look on her face as she focused on the task at hand.

Meanwhile, Kevin sat at his desk, his face bent down close so his nose almost touched the paper in front of him. His face was focused in concentration, his eyes following the quick movements of the pencil in his fingers as they danced across the page. His lips were tilted up in a small but content smile, as he continued to draw. After a few minutes, Kevin slowly sat up straight, put his pencil down next to the paper and stared down at his work. He gripped the edges of the paper between his two hands, bending it up slightly to observe his work.

There on the paper staring back at him were the faces of Betty, Jughead, Archie, Veronica and himself. While Jughead had returned to the Blue and Gold office, Archie was still messing with the guitar like it was now an extension of his arm, and Betty and Veronica were off having girl time, of which he was apparently not invited, he took it upon himself to commemorate this Saturday detention in a drawing. I will definitely be present for the next girl time though, he thought. His eyes scanned the paper before him, taking in the faces of himself, Archie, Veronica, Betty, and Jughead. A brain, a jock, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. He gave himself a light pat on the back for the sentiment and the detail of the drawing. Maybe I'll go to art school, he thought, an encouraging smile on his lips.

Betty was impressed. As she looked at her reflection in the small mirror of the compact, she felt happy. Her mouth dropped a bit in surprise, her eyes widened in delight and she genuinely smiled, as though a mask had been lifted and her true self was finally reflected back at her. She ran her fingers through her hair which was now down, not consciously feeling the bald spots, just adjusting her tresses to feel more carefree and it worked. Veronica didn't even flinch when Betty pulled out her ponytail, the scars from where she had tugged her hair for some quick control in a messy situation suddenly apparent. She simply commented that Betty should wear her hair down more and show off her gorgeous locks of golden hair.

The door to the Blue & Gold office opened, startling Jughead a bit, as he didn't expect Weatherbee back so soon. His heart calmed a bit and then jumped back up when the door opened to reveal none other than Betty, a shy smile on her face, her eyes lighting briefly, before she glanced behind her and closed the door furtively.

Jughead felt his stomach flip flop as he swallowed to try and unclog the lump in his throat. Betty stood before him but she was different. Her hair was down, framing her face, the blonde tresses revealing themselves to be wavy. His eyes moved to hers, wide and bright, and highlighted by a thin coat of green makeup that made her already green eyes glow with confidence and seduction. His eyes continued down to her usually pink lips, the strawberry lip gloss evident and yet more appealing than ever. Jughead noticed that her pink cardigan was gone, the high collar of her pale blue shirt open and the first few buttons undone.

Her yellow miniskirt a bit wrinkled from the walk down the hall, and he noticed she made no move to fix it. The mask has finally come off. He could finally see the fierce woman who had gotten in his face earlier, not bowing to any of his verbal challenges throughout the day, and done her best to control every aspect of her situation. Except her makeup now, clearly. Damn. There was no way she owned that shade of green and she silently thanked Veronica Lodge for being able to see through him a bit when it came to Betty. Guess there are some advantages for having loyalty to a Lodge.

They stared for a few seconds, as she leaned back against the door, and set the lock from the inside. His blue eyes briefly widened at that action, making eye contact quickly, his eyebrow quirking up at her, to which he got a small shoulder shrug and her looking to the floor, biting her lip to hide a smile.

"As editor of the Blue and Gold I have a key," she explained, opening her hand to show him the golden key, as she looked back up, searching his eyes for a reaction.

"Of course you do," he practically huffed out in response, trying to suppress his eye roll at the amount of trust given to Riverdale's golden girl. But he couldn't suppress the small sardonic smile at her words.

"Staging a break out?" she asked somewhat smugly, gesturing to the open window behind him. Jughead stood at the far side of the room, his serpent jacket and shirt had been discarded and haphazardly thrown across a nearby desk, although his beanie was still secured over his dark hair. He stood there in his white wife-beater, leaning back against the wall underneath the window, hands in his pockets, gazing back at her like he was ready for a challenge. Betty took a breath to steady her heartbeat a bit, trying not to let his appearance affect her so visibly, although he didn't seem to mind her silent appraisal of him. He seems to enjoy it, she mused quickly. I certainly am.

Jughead pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and showed it to her before twirling it a few times, simply to busy his hands for a few moments, and caught the look of surprise and disappointment on Betty's face as she watched him from across the room, her nose scrunching up unconsciously at the action.

"What? Not going to kiss me if I smoke? He joked with a teasing smirk, trying not to think about how her pink lips would feel against his. He leveled his gaze at the blonde and packed the cigarette between his lips. He lifted his lighter as Betty slinked closer to him, neither backing down from that was quickly becoming an intense gaze. That was his first mistake.

In his focus on her face, Jughead failed to notice her right hand land on top of his hand holding the lighter. He looked down quickly at the movement, and when his head whipped back up to look at Betty she had stepped closer right in front of him. Her green eyes were locked with his, a sultry smile on her lips and glint in her eye he didn't dare imagine she was capable of.

Frozen in that moment of realization, all Jug could do was stare, until her petite fingers reached up and lightly pulled the cigarette from his lips. He let it go, too caught up in the curiosity to care. Jug studied Betty closely as she confidently flipped the cigarette over and placed it between her own lips, accentuating their pink plumpness.

Jughead felt a surge of primal lust rush through him as he watched her lips close around the cigarette that had just been in his own mouth. Without breaking eye contact, Betty tugged their hands that still clutched the lighter towards her mouth. Her fingers moved down to hold his wrist carefully as he flicked the flame on and lit the cigarette.

Betty broke their gaze briefly as she caught the flame and Jughead enthralled with her little show. When she found his penetrating gaze again, she inhaled and puffed the cigarette expertly. Jughead felt his jaw drop open a bit, stunned. Clearly his favorite Hitchcock blonde knew what she was doing.

Leaning forward slightly, Betty removed the cigarette, exhaled and blew smoke out towards the cracked open window. She pulled back slowly, eyes still on his and offered him the lit cigarette in her hand, with an innocence in her eyes like she hadn't just blown his mind.

Jughead hesitated for a moment, not wanting her to see his eagerness, despite the predatory look he knew he was shooting her. Then he causally took the cigarette and had a turn, getting lost in the green of her irises even through the smoke between them.

She nearly moaned when she watched his cheeks hollow and he inwardly cheered that she was nearly just as affected as him. Somehow, he felt like this exchange between them was more intimate than kissing her. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to waste the opportunity. He broke their gaze first, turning his eyes out towards the window, eyeing the far goal post of the football field, while he gathered his courage. That was his second mistake.

In his hesitation, Betty had leaned towards him and placed a light kiss over Jughead's exposed serpent tattoo on his right shoulder. He instantly felt his body temperature rise, her perfect lips were heaven against his skin, their touch feather light and Jughead was addicted despite her barely touching him.

He whipped his eyes back to hers, a bit shy again, and a genuine smile broke on his face when saw her biting her lip to hid her teasing one she masked with a slight head tilt.

"Why did you do that?" he inquired, genuinely surprised, an unpracticed hint of vulnerability in his voice.

"You don't always have to be in control, Jug," Betty responded softly, releasing her lip and giving him a vulnerable stare right back.

"Neither do you," he countered resolutely, a flash of guilt on his face for his words about her earlier in the library to Archie.

Glancing down, he fingered the small black bracelet he wore on his wrist, slipping it off carefully, touching the two mini beads with the letters JJ carved into them. His sister Jellybean had given him the bracelet from her own wrist before she left for Toledo, and with the same initials everyone assumed they were his and he never corrected them. It was a symbolic reminder to never forget her, but Jughead sensed Betty needed the physical reminder more.

Betty was watching him curiously, and when he motioned for her wrist she willingly provided it. He gently placed the bracelet on her petite wrist and then pinched one side of it, pulling the fabric away slightly and letting it go, the pair watching it snap back to her wrist.

Betty's eyebrows rose at the action, and her eyes flew up to his, staring intently at her again. He saw a spark of realization, thanks and hope behind her eyes, a sentiment his gaze returned back to her in equal measure. Their hands reached for each other at the same time, clasping at their sides. His gloved, calloused and bruised hand and her smooth one with pink polish meshing together like ying and yang. The sharing and understanding of this emotional weight between them was not lost on Betty or Jughead. There they stood, hands clasped together, as a comfortable silence fell around them.


	11. The Goodbye Scene

"You see us as you want to see us—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal. Does that answer your question?" - Brian

"Alright, that's it for today. Now get out!" Barked Weatherbee, not looking up at them as he approached the nearest table and promptly deposited the cell phones down in front of him in a short stack.

One by one the students gathered up their phones, placing them in their pockets and purses and shuffling slowly towards the door. None of them seemed in a hurry to leave the school or the new relationships they had forged over the course the previous eight hours. Archie and Veronica walked ahead first, side by side with their shoulder nearly brushing every few steps, but staying silent. Kevin walked a bit behind them, smiling to himself at the unexpectedly positive outcome of the day, and Betty and Jughead walked last.

Archie and Veronica walked down the stairs of Riverdale High in silence, before coming to a stop at the bottom and facing each other, almost as if magnets were drawing them closer. Archie's eyes met Veronica's and he could feel himself getting lost a bit in her dark irises as they stood there and let time pass by. Archie watched and was mesmerized, as her lips tilted up in a small smile. With a short burst of courage, Archie leaned down and captured her lips, quick and soft, but feeling her return the sentiment wholeheartedly before he pulled back. Their noses nearly touched as Veronica's smile grew, which made Archie send her a genuine smile right back, their eyes filled with mutual happiness and understanding.

Archie took a small step back, his eyes still locked on Veronica's, as she clutched her handbag tighter with both hands. Her smile faltered momentarily when she saw his eyes glance down at the ground and shrug his shoulders a bit. It took another moment for her to realize that he was shrugged off his blue and gold letterman jacket. Archie took a breath and looked back into her eyes with conviction. He gathered the jacket in his hands loosely and shot Veronica a knowing smile as he held it out to her, the silent question hanging in the air between them.

Veronica's breathe caught at the gesture, so unexpected, but yet so fitting. The city girl in her saw the small-town gesture and a small part of her brain started an eye-roll, but another part of her brain felt real happiness at his clearly sincere gesture. Veronica's lips turned into a genuine smile as she reached out with both hands to accept the jacket, sensing that this was a thought Archie had no doubts about. He knew he wanted her to back his jacket. _And she wanted his jacket._

She clutched the jacket to her chest, not giving a second thought to how it clashed with her dark manicure. For the first time, she saw Archie without the jacket and it was like a shield of protection had been lifted. She saw an invisible weight lifted from his shoulders and from his soul. His smile grew as he glanced down at his letterman jacket clutched so tightly in her arms, and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head of new song lyrics.

Veronica Lodge was not a girl who fantasized about wearing a guy's letterman jacket or belonging to a boy. Life was not an 80s movie. There was no cheesy romantic declaration and no random musical number for no apparent reason. But as Veronica's fingers clutched the leather beneath her fingers, she could imagine the smoothness of the jacket across her own shoulders, and the pride she would feel to wear this jacket down the hallways at school. _His jacket._

Taking another step back and putting a bit of distance between them didn't really break the bond between Archie and Veronica. The could feel the sense of happiness Veronica felt holding his jacket radiating from her and he smiled so wide he felt he might break his face. The mysterious raven-haired girl who had walked into detention this morning was still a mystery in some ways, but she was also the person who finally understood him. _Plus, she's going to look stunning in my jacket_ , he mused.

Letting out another breath, Archie shot Veronica a quick wink and was rewarded when she reacted a bit surprised and then tried to hide her shy smile in the collar of his jacket. He broke their gaze and turned to walk towards his dad's truck, parked in the school lot at the other end of the school entrance. It was time they had a talk. Everyone had given him a pretty supportive reaction to his music, so it was the time he included his dad. _If I can impress Veronica Lodge, I can do this_ , he thought, trying to amp himself up as he walked. _Even Jug didn't seem to mind and of course, Betty wouldn't stop with the questions._ As Archie approached the awaiting truck, his dad shot him a comforting smile and unlocked the door. Archie sat back in the truck and sent his dad the same smile. _I can do this,_ he thought, and once again was completely confident in his ability to follow through.

Veronica turned to watch Archie walk away, before glancing over to Kevin, who had come to stop a bit behind them, clearly not accidentally eavesdropping or anything, instead spending too much time examining the architecture of the school building. She sent him a knowing look with a dramatic head tilt and was rewarded with a sheepish smile and a head shake. She held out her hand and beckoned him over and the two walked silently over to the only car left in the parking lot at the school.

Veronica and Kevin got into the black town car as Andre held the door open. "Take us to Pop's, please," Veronica said politely to Andre as they settled into the car, and she placed the letterman jacket on the seat between them. "But don't start explaining the dungeons with the dragons until after I've gotten my chocolate shake," she stated carefully to Kevin with a soft but pointed look. "That's when you will have my undivided attention," she finished with a nice smile, clasping her hands together.

"Oh boy," Kevin said lightly as he let out a deep breath. "This is clearly going to take more than one milkshake," he continued, sending a teasing smirk and a head nod towards Veronica. She took that moment to reach one hand over and link their arms together in the backs seat. "Well, it's a good thing we have all evening, then," Veronica said confidently. "The foods on me and since I'm famished, please feel free to enlighten me while we work our way through the entire menu," she finished with a giggle which Kevin joined her in.

Kevin turned his head and looked into Veronica's eyes, pausing to make sure he had her attention. "Thank you, Veronica, really," Kevin said softly, his eyes glinting with the sincerity that was radiating through his whole body as her generosity and kindness, which he would never have pegged her for eight hours prior.

Veronica simply gave him another winning smile and a few soft pats on their links arms and said, "Anytime, Kev. And anything for my new GBF." They both looked up briefly as the car started moving and on the journey to the diner Kevin pointed out some fun facts and places in the town of which he also included funny stories from his life.

When they arrived at the diner, Veronica and Kevin walked arm and arm through the door, ordered way too much food for two people (and finished off almost all of it to Pop Tate's amazement), Veronica learned all about Dungeons & Dragons (including never to call it the dungeons with the dragons again), Kevin got some truly life-changing hairstyling tips, and Kevin Keller was out so late on a Saturday night for the first time that his father sent out a patrol car looking for him. They laughed, they cried, they laughed until they cried and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Betty and Jughead were the last two students to leave the library, walking nearly side by side down the hallways at an insanely leisurely pace. Jughead watched Betty pull her phone from her pocket and begin texting someone. "Want to give me a ride home?" she asked with an impressive eyebrow quirk, in that innocent voice he was growing to adore, with a glint of mischief in her eyes. They both already knew the answer.

Jughead kept his face neutral. _Yes, but you're not getting your way that easily._ He slowly leaned in and lifted Betty's chin slightly up with his index finger. She lowered her eyes to lock onto his lips, partly hers slightly, her pink tongue darting out to wet them. Jughead leaned in slightly, before using his finger to turn her head towards his bike a few feet away in the parking lot.

As her head turned, Jughead caught a whiff of her intoxicating scent of strawberry and can practically sense how soft her skin was. His gaze was slightly predatory as he took in her beauty, not backing away even a millimeter when Betty turned back to look at him, slightly impressed.

"Your chariot awaits, princess," he quipped lightly, removing his hand from her chin to gesture to the bike, in a sort of half bow. Betty immediately turned and walked confidently over to the bike, nearly whipping him in the face with her blonde tresses in the process. _My serpent prince charming_ , she mused.

Jughead jogged a bit to catch up to her. Betty accepted the helmet he offered, with a mutual understanding following between them. They both got on the bike in silent, Betty wrapping her arms around him without hesitation which earned her a heavy smirk she couldn't see or scold.

Revving the engine, the pair quickly left the parking lot. Betty didn't give him directions and Jughead already proved he remembered where she lived earlier in the library when he taunted her about sneaking through her window. The ride was quick since Riverdale was small, but Betty enjoyed the way to wind felt against her face, and the warmth of the man she was squeezing tight between her arms. A new sense of freedom washed over her, the overwhelming happiness it showered her with nearly bringing tears to her eyes.

Jughead didn't speed to Betty's house because he was used to riding alone, and it was nice having someone else there. _Having her there._ He could feel the bright smile on her face through the leather of his jacket, her arms clasped against his abs doing this to his heart to dared not think possible when it came to her. _What a Saturday,_ he thought, turning onto her street and rolling to a stop in front of her idyllically perfect Northside house.

Betty got off the bike, adjusting her backpack, removing the helmet, and running her hands through her blonde hair to tame it. Jughead got off the bike as well, taking the helmet and placing it behind him on the seat.

Without a word, Betty reached up and ran her fingers through the hair outside Jughead's beanie, which she felt him lean into slightly. It was such a subtle movement, at first Betty thought she'd imagined it. Then he locked eyes with him, and the desire she expected was there. The comfort and appreciation she saw was not expected but widened her smile all the same.

Jughead ducked his head and tilted his face to kiss her. Betty leaned in a bit, her hands coming up to clutch the lapels of his jacket, matching the underlying eagerness of his lips, finally meeting after teasing all day. The kiss was light and soft, something she would not have associated with him before today. Betty found a sense of comfort in it, like an unspoken promise of understanding and want all wrapped up in a single blissful moment in time. _A shared control._

Jughead wished the moment his lips met Betty's could last forever. It was better than he dreamed or hoped and he felt a deep sense of worth in her touch that was completely new territory for him. He managed to keep his hands to himself, even when she leaned in a bit and grabbed his jacket, but this moment was more than enough to overwhelm him for days. He wouldn't ruin it with a loss of control. _That time will come later._

Soon, they both pulled away, and Betty slowly backed away from Jughead, keeping their eyes locked. Her green orbs extending their moment, until she slyly bit her lip and turned to walk up her stairs to the door.

Jughead watched her go with a satisfied glint in his eye. His gaze never left her, even when she glanced back at him after opening her door. Or peering through the curtains down at him after she made it to her room. Or when she unlocked the window. With a promising wink that earned him a blush and another addictive lip bite, Jughead turned and put on his helmet, mounted his bike and rode off, a beautiful sunset at his back and a gorgeous girl watching him go. He wouldn't find the strawberry lip gloss she managed to sneak into his pocket until he got home.

One thing was for sure: Betty, Jughead, Archie, Veronica, and Kevin had never looked forward to a Monday more.


End file.
